An Unlikely Sort of Paradise
by shadowwolf75
Summary: AU anime fic: Customer Service escapes the destruction of Holy Nightmare only to land right back in the frying pan on Popstar. Can he figure out how to get along without Nightmare on a planet full of enemies? Not getting finished, ever.
1. Chapter 1

An Unlikely Sort of Paradise

Kirby anime fic, AU as the fortress goes kaboom right after Kirby and everyone escape . . . Nightmare's fortress is about to go nova, but Customer Service still needs to escape. But the only place the teleporter can take him is Dream Land! Can he figure out how to get along without Nightmare on a planet full of former enemies? Not to mention surviving Dream Land's slight demon beast problem? You're about to find out!

An Unlikely Sort of Paradise  
by Shadow Wolf75

He lurked in the shadows of the room while Sword and Blade set the delivery system to take them all back to Dream Land. The two of them scrambled back onto the pad with everyone else, and they all disappeared in a flash of light and energy.

"Good riddance," Customer Service muttered as he emerged from his hiding place. A couple of far off explosions shook the room and he looked around nervously. "That's not good! I need to get out of here!" He ran over to the row of consoles and glanced at the primary teleport controls. The system to set coordinates was quite complicated; not only did you have to take account of a star system's general position in space, you had to know just where the planet you wanted to go to was in it's orbit. If it was off by a fraction of a percent, you'd end up in deep space. Customer Service was ridiculously good with numbers, but even he didn't have enough time to do accurate calculations for transport. The device would remain pointed at Dream Land.

_I refuse to go there, and there's not enough time to change it! I wonder if there are any ships still intact?_ At that thought, he hit a button to access the security cameras in the fortress' hangar bays. Most only returned static, and the ones that didn't clearly showed that the ships were all destroyed. There was one camera feed that even displayed its hangar bay being consumed by fire and explosions, before one last great fireball destroyed the bay and the camera itself.

That explosion shook the room even worse than the previous ones, and Customer Service started to panic a little, his thoughts taking on a slightly hysterical tone. _Isn't there any other way out of here? I don't want to die, not like this . . ._ He thought about how he'd likely die if he stayed there much longer, either burned alive or the various nasty things the cold vacuum of space can do to someone, and he shuddered in fear.

But then it hit him, and he looked at the delivery system almost as if he was seeing it for the first time. Customer Service sort of glared at it, but he knew what he had to do. "I suppose there's _one_ way out of here . . ." With that, he hit the activation button and the delivery system started powering up. He quickly climbed onto the teleport pad, and in a brilliant flare of energy, he left behind the only home he'd ever known.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the Dream Land end of things, Kirby and company were just stepping off the delivery system in Dedede's throne room. More to the point, everyone seemed to materialize two feet above the pad and bounced off when they landed. Those who'd stayed behind helped the returning heroes to their feet, and in Parm and Memu's case, they just did what parents do best.

"Fumu, Bun, are you two all right? You didn't get hurt at all, did you?" Memu asked, looking concerned. As soon as she got close enough to Bun, she caught him in a hug, even with him squirming a little.

"Aww, come on, Mom; we're fine! We totally kicked their butts, too! Even Silica and Knuckle Joe showed up to help, it was awesome!" Bun kept trying to wriggle out of his mother's grip, to go and brag to his friends, but he gave up eventually. Besides, it was actually sort of nice getting hugged after all that adventuring.

Fumu was of a differing opinion. "That's easy for you to say! At least you didn't get grabbed by that creepy Nightmare thing . . ."

That comment got a gasp out of both her parents. Parm stepped forward, looking over his daughter to make sure she was okay. "You were caught by Nightmare? Are you sure you're all right, Fumu?"

Fumu answered with a nod. "Yeah, I'm okay thanks to Kirby. You should've seen him, Dad; he really lived up to the title of 'Star Warrior' today. Nightmare's gone now . . . I hope so, anyway. Something still doesn't feel right, though . . ."

Before anyone could ask the girl what she meant by that, Dedede and Escargon appeared from the delivery system. The snail bounced off the pad like just about everyone else did, but Dedede actually managed to land on his feet. The king wore a fairly smug expression on his face, seeing as he'd gotten revenge and wiped out his debt in one fell swoop.

"Nyahahaha, we sure showed those creeps, didn't we?" Dedede cackled as he bounded off the teleport pad, unmindful that he was the cause of most of the trouble in the first place. "All that 'fighting evil' stuff made me hungry, I say we have a party to celebrate our victory!"

Escargon slid over to Dedede's throne and started examining the buttons used to control the comm and the delivery system. "Forget about a party, Your Majesty, I have to dismantle this thing first! If I don't, who knows what might come after us!" Meta Knight seemed to be be powering up a Sword Beam, but the snail yelled at him, "No, you can't take it apart like that! The power core will take out this whole room if you hit it with your attacks, so stand down!"

Dedede looked annoyed, and as usual his mallet appeared from nowhere. He gestured at Meta Knight, Sword and Blade with it as he said, "Didn't our little armored friends over there set explosives through that whole place? In that case, nothing's going to be able to come over here from there, it'll all be blown to bits!" His mallet came around again, this time Dedede threatened Escargon with it. "Now, I'm hungry and I want to party! If I don't get some food soon there's going to be some smashing going on!"

But, fate had other ideas, and Dedede wouldn't be getting his food quite as soon as he hoped. The delivery system powered up again, making everyone jump back from it in surprise. Meta Knight drew Galaxia, while Sword and Blade drew their more mundane weapons. Kirby, for his part, just got ready for whatever sort of action that was coming through the delivery system. Dedede still had his mallet, and hefted it to his shoulder in case he had to swing it in a hurry.

"Be ready for anything, Kirby . . ." Meta Knight advised, his grip tightening on Galaxia. The pink puff responded with a 'Poyo' and a nod, preparing for battle in his own little way.

The delivery system flared to it's usual brilliant life, thin arcs of energy crackling out from the machine. It hit the top of it's cycle and whatever was coming through materialized in mid-air above the pad, landing with a short scream and a thud. When the light faded and they could finally see just who it was lying dazed on the pad, almost everyone gaped in surprise.

"It's that damn salesman from Holy Nightmare! What the hell's he doing here?!" Dedede demanded.

Escargon seemed to speed up his messing with the delivery system controls. "See, I told you so! Maybe he's leading an army in! In that case, now I really have to hurry up and dismantle this thing!"

At the mention of the possible invasion, most of the Cappies started to panic. Meta Knight attempted to calm the crowd, knowing that a room full of panicking Cappies is a very dangerous place to be. "Remain calm, everyone! Nothing else has come through yet, and it's not like he's that much of a threat all by himself." Calm slowly returned to the crowd.

Fumu had to put her two cents in and said, "How dare you come here! You think we'll just welcome you with open arms, even after everything you did to us and to Kirby?!"

Customer Service stood up then, waving his hands in front of him as if to ward off the harsh words. "Look, I can explain, really! You know Nightmare really wasn't a nice guy . . . if I didn't follow orders, he would have had me killed!"

Fumu looked downright indignant. "You expect us to believe that? You enjoyed it too much!"

Before Customer Service could say anything else, Dedede broke back into the conversation. "Feh, nevermind, that doesn't matter. What does matter is that I'm gonna clobber him!" The penguin monarch brought his mallet down in a mighty swing, but he wasn't actually aiming for Customer Service. He was aiming for a spot on the teleport pad just beside him. The mallet left a dent in the pad and sent out a small shockwave that shook the room.

Customer Service jumped back with a yelp of surprise and more than a little fear. He looked around the room, growing more afraid at the sight of the warriors in the room who still had their weapons out. He cringed slightly, and took a few more steps back, looking like he was about to bolt.

Dedede grinned at this, enjoying his enemy's fear. "Gyahaha, not so high and mighty now, are ya? Let's see you try ripping me off now; you're nothing without your pack of demons!" Customer Service backed away a little more, and Dedede knew he'd run for it if he pushed him much further. If he managed to get out into the castle, even in the state it was in, they'd probably never find him again. The king had to put an end to his fun for the moment, in the interest of having their 'guest' still around for more fun and/or torture later. He bellowed for the Waddle Dees. "Guards, get him! Take that slimeball to the dungeon where I don't have to look at him!"

Waddle Dees, tons of them, suddenly began streaming into the throne room. They surrounded their target, and the circle of Dees innermost tackled Customer Service to the floor. The rest of them closed in, then, lifting him up to carry and then running for the dungeon at their top speed.

Dedede cackled some more and put his mallet away. "Heh, and that takes care of him for the moment! Now, how about that party?" The entire crowd in the room looked at him strangely, then most of the Cappies just sort of shrugged and followed Dedede to wherever with Kirby in tow. The only ones left in the throne room after everyone else took off were Escargon, Meta Knight, Sword, Blade, and Fumu.

Escargon didn't look pleased at Dedede's antics, but he just kept tinkering with the buttons on the throne. "He can't ever think of the important things, like taking this thing out before anything else from one of Nightmare's bases can come through." He noticed Meta Knight starting to move and he smirked. "Well, I know where you're going, Meta Knight, you're going to check out our new prisoner . . . go right ahead, and maybe you can give that jerk a proper interrogation while you're down there."

"I'll see what I can do. He might not have any useful information, though." Meta Knight replied as he stepped to follow the Waddle Dees. Almost as an afterthought, he called over his shoulder to Sword and Blade. "Sword, Blade, go after Kirby and make sure he doesn't get into any trouble. He probably won't, but we still can't be too careful." Meta Knight strode from the room.

Fumu looked like she was going to follow the knight, but then Escargon called for her. "Fumu, come over here and help me, will you? I think you know enough to be able to help, and some of this dismantling is going to be a two person job. Besides, if Meta Knight is going to interrogate that guy, you _really_ don't want to be down there . . ."

The girl opened her mouth to protest, but then she sighed in annoyance. "Oh, all right . . ." Fumu went over to the throne to see what she could help with.

* * *

By the time Meta Knight got down to the dungeon, the horde of Waddle Dees had mostly vanished back to their current task of castle repair. Customer Service was already locked in one of the cells. He was sitting on the small bed looking considerably calmer than he had been upstairs, though he still seemed slightly nervous.

Meta Knight stepped closer to the cell bars. Customer Service barely seemed to acknowledge him, but the knight asked him something anyway. "You. Why are you here?"

Customer Service crossed his arms in annoyance, not even glancing over at Meta Knight. "I have a name, you know." Not that he expected the knight to know it, of course; no one outside the company knew his real name. It was still sort of rude that Meta Knight hadn't bothered asking, though.

Meta Knight's hand twitched for Galaxia. The Star Warrior somehow managed to conceal his irritation as he said, "Well then, why don't you tell me what it is? At least that way we won't have to keep calling you 'You' all the time."

The salesman did a mock bow. "Jin Akumu at your service, Sir Meta Knight. As for why I'm here . . . well, I blame my irrational fear of death, personally . . ."

Meta Knight didn't seem amused by his answer. "That's the only reason? Somehow I find that hard to believe, especially coming from someone so loyal to Nightmare."

Customer Service, or rather, Jin, turned towards the armored puffball and actively glared at him. "It's the only reason I _have_. I certainly can't think of any other reason why I'd want to come to this place. Besides, Nightmare's dead, isn't he?" He sighed and looked away. "I just . . . I didn't want to die too, all right?"

"I'll take your word for it, for the moment. But if you've lead any monsters here, don't expect me to be merciful later." Meta Knight warned.

Jin almost looked scared again. "I didn't exactly have time to grab any tracking devices, not that I would have wanted to! If any demon beasts show up here, it's really not my fault, I swear!"

"Hrmph, very well. But don't forget my warning . . ." Without another word, Meta Knight left, only the swishing of his cape announcing his passing.

Jin just sort of sighed at Meta Knight's departure. He idly ran a hand through his purple hair, just before yawning mightily. _I guess I'm more tired than I thought I was_, he thought. _Chalk it up to one very stressful day, I suppose . . ._

* * *

Roughly two hours had passed, and Jin was just lying there on the hard mattress, staring up at the ceiling. Sleep seemed to be an impossibility for the moment, not that he ever needed that much sleep to begin with. All the rushing around and saving his own hide had been the priority earlier. Now that he had time to actually sit there and think about things, that was about the only thing he was able to do.

_Nightmare, are you really gone? I don't understand it, you were supposed to be untouchable . . . _That was how it seemed to Jin, anyway. Nightmare would rarely come out to fight, but when he did, any resistance would be absolutely crushed. Whole armies could throw themselves at the Emperor of Darkness, and he wouldn't so much as yawn at their pitiful attempts to damage him. And yet, a certain pink puffball had apparently managed the impossible. How did that pink ball do it? Kirby was strong to be sure, but strong enough to stand up against Nightmare and win?

_No, there's just no way that could happen! At least, not under normal circumstances . . . yes, that's it, Kirby cheated! _Even as he thought that, he sort of crossed it from his mind. Kirby wouldn't know how to cheat at anything, and if he did, the little guy's nature as a Star Warrior wouldn't let him anyway. And that reminded him, there were two Star Warriors on this planet: Kirby and that blasted Meta Knight. Though Jin had no powers to speak of, he was still technically a demon beast, and just being anywhere near those two made him uncomfortable. Who wouldn't be, when faced with what the cosmic balance designed to be your natural enemy?

That last thought lingered a little longer than he would have liked, and it didn't take him long to realize why. He was completely and utterly surrounded by enemies on Pop Star, wasn't he? Dedede and Escargon, Fumu and her family, Kirby, Meta Knight and his two servants, not to mention all those Cappies whose village was burned to the ground by the Destrayer fleet . . . _Now why did I come to Pop Star again? Oh, yes, it was either that or dying on the fortress. But now I'm stuck here without hope of rescue, and they'll probably have me executed anyway! I'll be lucky if His Majesty doesn't have me burnt at the stake . . ._

Jin's thoughts turned to the various ways the Dreamlanders could have him killed, and he started shaking a little. He had to forcefully shove all of that to the back of his mind to calm himself again. _No, stop thinking like that! If I panic, I'm dead for sure . . . no, there has to be a way out of this, there always is. All I have to do is find it._

Sleep still wouldn't be coming to him for a while, but at least plotting a way to survive was a little more productive than just lying there.


	2. Chapter 2

Well, here's chapter two I suppose . . . oh and yes, I gave Salesguy/Customer Service a name. If I'm going to write about him it's kinda required that he has one . . .

An Unlikely Sort of Paradise  
by Shadow Wolf75

Jin awoke the next morning to the sound of Waddle Doo raking his sword across the cell bars.

"Hey, wake up, you! The king would like to have a little talk with you . . ."

The former HNM employee just sort of groaned as he laid there. Jin sat up and regarded Waddle Doo, who looked rather impatient. _It is way too early for this . . ._ he thought. What he said was, "I don't suppose I get breakfast first?"

Waddle Doo didn't look particularly pleased with Jin's sense of humor. "Oh, shut up and come on!" The soldier unlocked the cell door, allowing Jin to step out into the corridor. Two spear-carrying Waddle Dees were already waiting, and they pointed with their weapons in the direction they wanted their prisoner to go. The group went upstairs, to meet with Dedede in the throne room.

When they got there, the first sight that greeted them was the pile of scrap metal the delivery system had been reduced to. Once Escargon had taken out or deactivated the more sensitive parts of the device, it was all right for the Waddle Dees to go at it with their tools. The results were plain to see, in a big pile off to the right side of the room. Occasionally, a Dee would go up to the pile, grab a piece of metal or something from it, and then run back out into the castle with it. Considering how many times the castle's been destroyed, the Dees were probably using the metal for added support to what they were rebuilding.

Dedede was in his usual spot on his throne. On spotting Jin and company approaching, he said, rather haughtily, "Well, well, my newest employee finally decided to get out of bed. How nice of you to grace us with your presence." Dedede's evil grin probably couldn't get any bigger, though it was trying. _Oh yes, this will be fun . . ._

Jin normally wasn't a morning person, and Dedede's attitude was just irritating. But being negative certainly wouldn't help with his situation, so he forced a smile and said, "Good morning, Your Majesty. While I no longer have the resources I once did, I'll still try to help you as best I can. What do you need?"

"Oh, you're still being polite? That's just wonderful." Dedede got a laugh out of that, then continued. "Well, my castle is kind of in a state of disrepair at the moment. The Waddle Dees are working as fast as they can, but I'd like something that could speed things up. So, can you get me any more of those demon beasts? Just one or two would be nice."

Jin could scarcely believe what he was hearing. _He wants more demons? What, is he nuts? _He thought about it for a minute and quickly realized just why the king would be thinking that way_. Oh, wait, I get it now . . . explaining this isn't going to be pleasant. Oh well, here goes nothing . . . _He spoke up then, fully expecting to feel the wrath of Dedede's mallet for what he had to say. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I can't."

It took a second for Jin's answer to register to Dedede, but once it did, the king's mood went from pleasant to downright volcanic. He stood up, bringing his mallet with him, and roared, "WHAT?! What do you mean you can't?"

The former salesman winced at Dedede's angry yell, then quickly began to explain himself. "I just can't! Holy Nightmare's base was destroyed by your subjects, and who knows if any of the demon beasts survived the explosion." Jin's voice took on something of a sad tone for what he had to say next. "And Nightmare . . . Nightmare's gone now. I can't sense him anymore."

If anything, Dedede grew more agitated, gesturing wildly with the mallet. "And what does any of that have to do with why you can't get me any more demons? I want real answers right now!"

Jin took a step back, then a few more. A light poke from one of the Dees' spears made him stop, but his anxiety still kept climbing. He really hoped this wouldn't go on for too much longer, otherwise the penguin monarch might end up enraged enough to attack him. "I really don't know what else I can tell you, Your Majesty. Holy Nightmare is gone, my superior is dead, and so are all the demon beasts . . . there's simply nothing left to give to you!"

Those words didn't really get through to Dedede either, and he still pressed on. "So your boss is dead, huh?" A smug smirk formed on his lips. "Hmph, that doesn't matter. The only thing that does matter is you getting me what I want. Now, can you get me a demon beast or can't you?"

Jin couldn't believe how callous the king was being, not to mention how stupid. And Nightmare's death didn't matter to the king? Hurt and rage fueled his next words, his voice twisting slightly from their intensity. "This is why you're so easily manipulated, you're an imbecile! I didn't create any of the demon beasts, Nightmare did! He created me too, but he never gave me the power to make demons. And then there you are, up on your blasted throne, forcing me to explain to you that my home is gone and my father is dead!" The rage burnt out almost as soon as it appeared, and hurt won in the end. Tears graced his eyes, but letting them fall with Dedede still nearby was one thing he'd never do.

Dedede just sort of froze at the unexpected tirade, complete surprise etched on his face. However, it didn't take long for the raging torrent of his anger to go blazing through the freeze and explode outward once again. "How dare you talk to me like that! Waddle Doo, take this creep back to the dungeon! And know this, if you can't get me any demons, I'm going to put YOU to work out there fixing my castle!"

Waddle Doo saluted with his sword. "Yes, Your Majesty!" He faced Jin and said, "All right, back you go!", then he, the two spear-toting Waddle Dees and their prisoner went back the way they came.

They hadn't been gone for more than a minute when Meta Knight entered the room. "I agree with Jin; you ARE an imbecile, trying to order more demons like that."

The king was in no mood to talk to Meta Knight, and he growled, "Oh, shut up, Meta Knight! Besides, it wasn't like he actually got them for me, anyway. That guy is totally useless now."

"Perhaps, or perhaps not. Either way, we do still need to decide what to do with him. We can discuss it later." With that, Meta Knight disappeared into the shadows of the castle once again.

* * *

Down in the village, the rebuilding effort was kicking into high gear. Just about everyone was pitching in, helping to rebuild what was destroyed when the Destrayer ships attacked. Fumu and Bun were helping Kawasaki fix his shop; Fumu was giving the chef some pointers on how to cook a little better. Memu was over helping Mabel rebuild her shop, while idly gossiping. Sword and Blade were putting a new roof on Samo's bar. Parm was at Tago's store, helping to clean up the mess there.

Rick and Coo had come out of their forest to lend a hand, and even Tokkori was flying around giving some light tools to those who asked. Even a small horde of Waddle Dees had come from the castle to assist everyone, remembering the earlier kindness of the villagers. Kirby was there too, trying to help, but was mostly just being cute and staying out of everyone else's way.

"This is hard work, but it's worth it," Fumu began, looking rather proud of everyone's handiwork. "Our village will be back to normal in no time if we stay at this pace!" She was truly impressed. Just a few days prior, she would have thought the villagers weren't capable of that kind of teamwork.

Bun looked tired and felt that way too. He stretched out in an effort to make his poor arms and legs feel a little better. "Aww, but I'm worn out, sis! Can't we take a break or something?"

"You're just saying that because you're bored!" If there was one thing Fumu couldn't tolerate about her brother, it was that he bored so easily. That boredom usually lead the boy straight into trouble, and even as much as he annoyed her, she'd rather not have Bun get hurt as a result of being bored. "Why don't you go trade jobs with someone, it'll be different from what you've been doing."

"Eh, okay, I guess . . ." Bun started to wander off, but that's when he spotted Meta Knight standing on a pile of building supplies nearby. "Oh, hey Meta Knight! Are you here to help rebuild too?"

"Not exactly," Meta Knight replied. "Have you seen your sister around here? There's something we need to talk about." The knight was sort of hoping Bun wouldn't ask him why he needed to talk to Fumu, but knew the kid just couldn't resist.

"Well, she's right over there." Bun pointed in his sister's direction. "What did you want to talk to her about? You could tell me too!"

"It's actually rather important, Bun. You probably wouldn't really care about it anyway." Meta Knight decided not to mention that Bun was likely not mature enough to really understand the situation. You just don't tell something like that to a little boy and expect him to not argue with you about it. He jumped down from the pile of wood and headed over to talk to Fumu.

Fumu was just putting the finishing touches on the new sign for Kawasaki's place when Meta Knight walked up to her. Wondering what he wanted, she said, "Oh, hi Sir Meta Knight! What are you doing down here? I thought you were keeping an eye on Dedede so he wouldn't come out and cause enough trouble to interrupt our rebuilding?"

"His Majesty is a little too busy rebuilding his castle to come down here and cause problems at the moment." Though really, who knew how long that would last, given the king's penchant for trouble when he grew bored with whatever he was doing in the castle. Meta Knight cleared his throat slightly and continued. "But that's not why I'm here. We're going to have a meeting in a few hours, to discuss the fate of our 'guest' staying in the castle dungeon. I'd like you to be there, to help balance out any of the more irrational ideas the king may have."

"Okay, Meta Knight, I'll be there. I was hoping to help decide what happens to Jin, anyway," Fumu answered. She really did want to be there, since she expected Dedede wouldn't be the only source of 'irrational ideas' they'd have to contend with. Fumu didn't exactly expect who would really cause the most problems, but that wasn't something she could predict easily, after all.

"Very well, then. I'll see you there." Meta Knight headed back towards the castle, pausing to tell Parm and Memu of the meeting as well.

Bun watched Meta Knight leave. He'd been listening in on the knight's conversation with Fumu and the whole thing just made him angry. Meta Knight not inviting him to a meeting that the rest of his family could go to? He didn't think so! Bun noticed Kirby frolicking nearby, and went over and grabbed him by his hand. "Come on, Kirby, we're gonna be at that meeting whether they like it or not!"

* * *

A few hours had passed. The scrap metal pile in the throne room had diminished considerably, and there currently wasn't a line of Waddle Dees running from it and back into the castle. This was a good thing, because Meta Knight wanted the meeting taking place in the throne room to be private, at least for the moment. Dedede was on his throne, Escargon standing beside him, and Memu, Parm, Fumu, and Meta Knight were standing in a loose semi-circle facing the throne. Sword and Blade were in the back of the room, guarding the doors, but they were only really there because Meta Knight was.

"We are here to decide the fate of the Holy Nightmare salesman, Jin Akumu. Would anyone like to begin?" Meta Knight asked. Frankly, he would've been happy keeping their prisoner in the dungeon for however long, but there still needed to be a definite plan for what they wanted to do with him. The Star Warrior had a few things he wanted to ask Jin as well . . .

Dedede spoke first, as brash as ever. "Well, I'm the king, so I'll start! You already know my opinion of that jerk, and I say we have him executed. He'll be more trouble than he's worth if we keep him around, I just know it!" It was draconian to be sure, but Dedede didn't really care. After constantly getting ripped off and occasionally double-crossed, the king didn't feel much for Jin other than loathing. He really didn't expect anyone else to go along with his plan, though; so he just crossed his arms and waited for someone to argue against him.

Surprisingly enough, the first one to do so was Escargon. "Execution, Your Majesty? Isn't that a little extreme?" The snail's lavender coloring went paler, something the rest of the group thought was impossible. "I mean, I really don't like him either, but that's just . . ." He wrapped his arms around himself and shuddered. "And besides, who'd get the honor of escorting him to the next life? We know Sir Meta Knight here won't do it because he never listens to us anyway, his servants probably feel the same, and I don't think Waddle Doo is competent enough." The thought of Waddle Doo's ineptitude made a rather terrible image cross Escargon's mind, and he turned a little green. "I'd rather not be forced to fix things after someone botches that, thank you very much . . ."

Fumu was the next person to object to Dedede's idea. "If we kill Jin like how you're suggesting, then we're no better than Nightmare!" She paused in thought for a moment, her expression unsure. The girl wasn't on Jin's side and really didn't plan to be, but her strong sense of justice was acting up again. The situation as it was just didn't feel right to her, so she sighed a little and resumed speaking. "And speaking of Nightmare, isn't this the sort of thing he would do? Discussing someone's life without that person even being here? We should at least hear what Jin has to say for himself . . . if anything, it could help us decide what our best choice might be."

Meta Knight considered Fumu's words, his eyes faintly glowing green for a second. "Nightmare wouldn't have bothered talking about it. But you are on the right track, Fumu. If we're to have a trial, then it's only fair that the accused has a chance to defend himself. At the very least, it could be amusing." The knight ignored Fumu's annoyed glare at that last comment, and turned to the rest of the group. "Does anyone have a problem with bringing him up here?"

Dedede growled in rage, and he got up from his throne. "Hell yes, I have a problem! How are we supposed to know if anything coming out of that guy's mouth is the truth or not? He always lied to me, so what's to stop him from doing the same just to save his own hide?"

Memu stepped forward, her voice almost as chiding as it would get while scolding Bun. "Stop being so childish, Your Majesty. From what little I've seen, it was more like Jin left things out of his explanations rather than completely lying. Everyone does that every once in a while. It's your own shortcoming if you decided to take everything he said at face value. Besides, I want to hear what he might have to say . . . there has to be some good reason why a seemingly nice young man like him thought he had to sell those dreadful demon beasts." That was about the only thing Memu didn't like about Jin, that he was the one who sent all those demon beasts and put her children in danger. But with Holy Nightmare and most of the demon beasts destroyed, it was doubtful he'd be able to do that again.

Parm put himself between his wife and the king, looking apologetic. "Please, Your Majesty, forgive my dear Memu for her rudeness!" The apologetic expression didn't stay for long, though, and his gaze grew more serious. "She does have a point, however. I'd like to know why Jin did all those horrible things as well, but the only way to be sure about it is to ask him. I really don't think he'll lie about that, Your Majesty . . . I can't see him having any reason to lie at this point."

"I agree with Papa. Jin's all alone here, and he probably knows that nobody's coming to find him." Pity shone in Fumu's eyes for a moment, though it faded when she remembered just who she was feeling sorry for. "He's too smart not to realize that his only hope is being truthful with us."

Dedede sat back down, almost pouting. "All right, I can tell when I've been outvoted! Go ahead and bring him up here if you want, I don't really care anymore."

Meta Knight nodded. "Very well then . . . Sword, Blade! Retrieve our 'guest' from the dungeon."

The two knights stood at attention for a second, then headed out the door.

* * *

When Sword and Blade arrived downstairs, they found their target pacing back and forth in his cell. Jin seemed a little too lost in his thoughts to really notice the two knights were there, though.

Somewhere under that armor, Blade sort of smirked. Mischief tinged his voice as he said, "You're going to wear a track in the floor if you keep that up."

The purple haired humanoid jumped at the new sound, nervousness lining his face. When Jin looked over and saw who it was, he calmed somewhat, but when he spoke there was still some anxiety in his voice. "Please, don't do that! As for wearing this floor out, well, there's not much else to do down here. Would it be possible for someone to bring me a few books? Whatever you can find lying around would be fine, anything would be better than staring at these walls . . ."

Sword went over to the cell door and opened it. "Maybe later. Right now, you get to come with us to the throne room. Come on, let's get going . . . they probably don't want to wait all day."

Jin started to venture out of the cell, but stopped short at the door. "Wait a minute. May I ask why they need me to go up there?" The earlier incident with the king sprang to mind, and he looked pretty annoyed. "If His Majesty still thinks there's some way that I can get him demon beasts--"

Blade made a sound somewhere between a disgusted snort and a laugh. "Huh, so he did ask you that? And here I thought Sir Meta Knight was making it up. Then again, His Majesty's stupidity seems to have no bounds, so it's not really that surprising." Realizing he was getting off the subject, Blade cleared his throat and continued. "Actually, they're trying to figure out what to do with you. I guess they'd like to hear your side of things, to help them decide what's best for everyone involved."

"Really? That's not how we did things at Holy Nightmare. But if that's what they want, who am I to argue?" Jin kept his scheming smile to himself, but couldn't quite help looking slightly happier. _Everything is going according to plan . . ._

That comment earned a somewhat incredulous laugh from Sword. "You're going to discover a lot of things in the greater universe that are different from Holy Nightmare. You might even get to see that from outside this cell if you're lucky. Now then, let's go."

The three of them left the dungeon area and headed upstairs.

* * *

It didn't take long for Jin and his two escorts to get to the throne room. Sword and Blade led their prisoner up to the group in the center of the room, and took up guard positions behind him. Everyone else turned to look, and Jin flinched when he felt their stares center on him. It wasn't that anyone looked particularly hostile aside from Dedede, but up close interaction was a lot different from talking over a video link. _This is going to be harder than I thought . . ._

"Oh look, I think we made him nervous! Isn't that cute?" Dedede crowed. An evil smile appeared on his face, and he pointed at Jin. "Guess what, I've got something else that'll make you nervous. If I have my way, I'm going to have you executed for your crimes! How do you feel about that, huh?"

The bold announcement had the opposite effect, however. Calmness returned to Jin's features, though he didn't smile. "Am I supposed to be surprised, Your Majesty? If anything, you're playing true to form. And I'm sure I don't have to remind you how rarely it is that you actually have things your way around here . . ."

A dumbfounded expression appeared on Dedede's face, though fury quickly replaced it. "Why you--"

Meta Knight held up one hand, silencing the enraged king. "Enough." The knight turned to face Jin, his eyes glowing green again. "I take it Sword and Blade told you why we wanted to talk with you?"

Jin nodded. "Yes, it was something about all of you wanting to hear my side of the story. Well then, if you'll be more specific, I'll try to tell you what you'd like to know."

Fumu seemed to be dying to ask something, her eagerness tempered by the seriousness of the situation. "Jin, could you tell us why you served Nightmare? You seem like you could do well for yourself just about anywhere, so why'd you have to stay there?"

Jin was expecting that one or a variation of it, though that didn't make it any less hard to answer. "Why did I serve Nightmare? Well, what else was I supposed to do? Nightmare brought me into the world to run his company, that's all I was ever taught, the only thing I was meant to do. I was never really given any other options. To tell the truth, there wasn't much incentive to look for something different, either."

Fumu looked outraged. "What? Why wouldn't you try to find another way? You could've found someplace peaceful to live away from all the fighting, or maybe even joined the Galaxy Soldier Army!"

Disbelief at Fumu's naive words made it's way onto Jin's face. "It wasn't that simple, things in the real world never are. The war was everywhere and even this planet wasn't unscathed. I'm sure the ruins around here still show some evidence of all the battles. There were no truly safe places left. And joining the Galaxy Soldier Army?" He started laughing, though it was a touch more bitter than his usual laughter. "Just look at me . . . what you see is basically all there is. Yes, I am a demon, but I have no powers besides being able to sense other demon beasts and Star Warriors. I'm not strong enough to do much besides running computers. What use would the Galaxy Soldier Army have for a demon who couldn't fight?" Anger and old pain surfaced in his voice. "Besides, the Star Warriors killed someone I cared about . . . working for them was out of the question."

Seeing as Fumu was at a loss for words, Meta Knight was the next to speak. "Yes, the war was terrible for all involved. All those people and planets lost, and for what? But tell me, Jin, was there ever any time that you questioned Nightmare's motives? Even if it was just for a moment?"

Jin looked shocked at the question and almost immediately launched into a denial. "No, I'd never--" Something made him stop short and actually think about it, though. Maybe it was from being on the receiving end of Meta Knight's stare, or from having all those people around, but he took a moment to go sifting through the depths of his memory. Jin's voice was distant when he finally spoke again. "No, wait; there was one time. I was just a child then. I asked him why we were attacking planets and enslaving people . . . he only said 'Because I want to.'" Remembered fear cut into his speech, and for a second it seemed he was a little too lost in the memory. "H-he was angry that I asked him why. He tried to hide it a little as I was young and didn't know better, but he was still furious . . . that was one of the few times I was truly frightened of him. I wanted to please my father, to make him happy, so I never asked again."

A faint note of surprise was noticeable in Meta Knight's voice, but he otherwise didn't react. "I see. Well then, everyone; you've heard what he had to say. Does anyone think they can make a decision now, or would it be better to wait for a while?"

Dedede was still sort of pouting. "Well, I already made my decision, but nobody ever listens to me . . ."

Escargon closed his eyes and considered things for a moment, but when he opened them again he simply shook his head. "No, I can't, not right now anyway. It'll be better to wait, maybe then we can come up with something suitable . . ."

Fumu was still reeling a little from getting that nice dose of reality to counteract her rampant idealism. Her voice was quiet when she spoke. "I need more time to think . . ."

Parm's expression was thoughtful. He was the one who knew most of Dream Land's laws, but there was nothing like this situation at all in the precedents. Still, Jin never had a choice . . . but maybe they could give him one. It would depend on a number of factors, though, so the Cabinet Minister decided to wait and see what the others' ideas were. "I have an inkling of an idea, but it'll have to wait for a while too."

Memu just sort of sighed. "Well, after hearing that, I can't think of anything right now either." Something seemed to be bothering her, though, and she looked straight at Jin. "I'm sorry if it seems like we're talking as if you aren't here. It's just how this sort of thing ends up going, I guess."

Meta Knight regarded the group, his eyes staying relatively neutral aside for a quick flicker of green. "Well then, that's everyone. Yes, I do have a few ideas of my own, but they'll have to wait as well." The knight turned to face Jin. "In the meantime, you'll have to stay in the dungeon. You understand, don't you?"

Jin frowned a little, but otherwise didn't react. "Yes, I understand. I really don't like it, but I understand why. Not that I would try to escape; there's nowhere else to go, and I wouldn't get very far anyway. You knights would see to that, I'm sure."

Meta Knight seemed somewhat pleased to hear that. "It's always nice to have a prisoner who knows there's really no point in running. That rarely happened during the war." Having said that, he looked to his two servants. "Sword, Blade, let's get going. There's something I need to do in the basement, so I'll come with you." With a swish of his cape, Meta Knight headed out the door. Sword and Blade took up their escort positions again, leading Jin along and following their master.

* * *

The trip back downstairs was largely uneventful. Meta Knight led the way, Jin was in the middle, and Sword and Blade followed behind. It would have remained uneventful, that is, if Meta Knight hadn't decided to take a slight detour.

Jin noticed almost immediately and looked uneasy about it. He didn't stop walking, though. "Wait, my cell is in the other direction, isn't it? Why are we going this way?"

"I want to find something out. But to do that, we'll have to go over here for a few minutes . . ." Meta Knight trailed off ominously, and continued leading the way to what looked like just another cell.

Well, it would've been just another cell, if not for the device in the center of the room. There were three pole-like machines ringing a metal table, with a control panel off to the side. Just looking at it made a chill go down Jin's spine, and yet it still seemed familiar somehow. Remembrance came quickly afterwards, and he tried to turn and bolt, only to be grabbed by the robot arm in the ceiling. He struggled to free himself for a minute, but gave up when it wasn't letting go. Jin wondered if he looked as pathetic as he sounded as he said, "Please don't hurt me . . ."

Meta Knight's eyes glowed slightly pink, and a small chuckle escaped him. "You know what this thing is, do you?"

Yes, Jin knew what the machine was. There was even one just like it back at the fortress, though he'd never used it himself. Knowing full well what it was capable of, his voice was fearful. "I should . . . I'm the one who s-sold it to His Majesty."

Meta Knight's eyes returned to their normal color, though the amusement remained in his voice. "Quite ironic that something I'm so fond of was made by Holy Nightmare. I haven't had much chance to use it lately, but as there's something I'd like to know . . ."

Jin cringed at that, his voice still shaking. "Y-you don't have to do this, you know. Anything you need to know about Holy Nightmare, anything at all, just let me go and I'll tell you. With Nightmare gone, there's nothing standing in the way."

Meta Knight just shook his head. "That could be useful later, but not right now. What I want to know could be repressed or sealed somehow . . . how can you tell me something that you're not truly aware of consciously? If it's any consolation, I'll try not to hurt you unnecessarily. Now then, let's begin." He tapped the control for the robot arm and it moved again, depositing it's cargo on the table in the center of the room. Another button press and the shackles clicked into place over Jin's wrists and feet. "Tell me, did Nightmare ever talk to you about any backup plans he might have had?"

"Backup plans? Why would he need one of those? He certainly didn't expect Kirby to win--" Apparently that was the wrong thing to say, and Jin's next words died in a howl of pain. Electricity coursed through him for a few seconds, and when it stopped he was shaking and gasping for breath.

Slight irritation made itself known in Meta Knight's voice. "Don't try to change the subject, just answer the question. Do you know of any of Nightmare's backup plans? Even a detail that might've seemed insignificant to you at the time could be useful."

Jin was still panting a little from the first zap, but somehow managed to get a reply out between breaths. "I don't know . . . I can't remember." The pain was making his memory go a little fuzzy but even so, he couldn't recall ever being told about any plans for Nightmare to come back somehow and take revenge. The demon knew he was probably going to pay for his next words, but he said them anyway. "If there were any plans, do you really think I'd still be stuck here? After all this, I'd even volunteer to pilot a Destrayer and try to properly kill you all--" Electrical discharge sounded in the room again, immediately followed by Jin screaming in agony. It felt like every nerve in his body was firing off it's 'pain' signal at once, and he struggled weakly with his restraints, wanting to get away.

Meta Knight hadn't really risen to the bait, the timing of his button press only made it seem that way. That's what he would say to Sword and Blade if they asked, anyway. He still sounded annoyed with not getting a real answer, though. "There's no need to be like that. Are you sure you can't remember, or is it that you just don't want to tell me?"

Pain and desperation can make one's mind do strange things. Such was the case for Jin, and a old memory long buried broke free to haunt him once again. His voice was hoarse when he spoke, though that still didn't cover up the slightly whining tone it took on. "I don't have anything to tell! He wouldn't tell me anything . . . he thought I might get caught by Star Warriors again . . ."

Meta Knight startled at this, his own memory conflicting with Jin's words. If he'd ever ran into someone remotely looking like the former salesman, he thought he'd remember it. Something about it was bothering him, though. "I don't recall ever running into you . . . and if one of the other Star Warriors did I probably would've been told about it."

"You did, though. It was over 300 years ago, but I still remember everything . . ." Old fears threatened to run rampant, and Jin took a few deep breaths to try and calm himself. "Do you know, Sir Meta Knight, how terrifying you were that day?"

* * *

It was a fairly typical day at Holy Nightmare Corporation's main control room, and a much younger Jin sat in a chair next to the delivery system console. He probably wasn't much older than Fumu at the time, maybe around ten or so, and actually needed the chair to be able to reach all the buttons. The little guy was actually kind of cute at that age, something of a contradiction given what he'd end up looking like as an adult. His purple hair was in a slightly scruffier style than it would be later on, but he still wore a smaller version of his trademark suit. He'd just finished his training for the day (which thankfully had little in common with the training most demon beasts get), and was working on an assignment with a bored expression on his face. There was a storage crate sitting on the teleporter, and with a button press and a bleep, the delivery system flared to life and the crate disappeared. Jin waited about 30 seconds, then hit another button. Another flash of light and the crate reappeared. The young demon repeated this process about three times, then leaned back in his chair and yawned.

"'Practice using the delivery system', he said. Does he have any idea how boring this is?" Jin's voice still had the squeakiness of youth, though at the moment that was somewhat overshadowed by his whining at being bored. "I almost wish something would happen . . ."

At this point, Jin was a little too young to realize that fate had a nasty habit of answering him, usually for the worse. As he sent the crate on another round trip, alarms sounded and the delivery system powered down, The crate didn't reappear, meaning it was at it's destination or lost in the ether of the internet. 'SYSTEM ERROR' flashed in big red letters on the screen in front of him, along with a readout of what went wrong.

"Oh, crap! It's not supposed to do that!" Trying not to panic, Jin reached for the button to kill the alarms. Normally he didn't swear even to himself, it just wasn't proper; but this took him by surprise. And what happens if Nightmare found out he broke the delivery system? He had to force the panic back even further, and took a good look at the screen. "Let's see, what does it say . . . 'Part number 67482 has burned out: replace and reboot system.' If that's all it is, I can fix this myself." After taking one last look at the screen to confirm just where a replacement part should go, Jin hopped out of his chair.

The young system admin in training rummaged around underneath one of the consoles and retrieved a toolkit, then climbed up onto the teleport pad in the center of the room. The location of the damaged part was in a fairly odd place, under a nearly invisible panel on the floor of the teleporter. Jin used a thin tool to wedge it open, and there was the offending part, a burnt out piece of circuitry that was still smoking a little. He removed it and tossed it aside, dug in the toolkit for a replacement, and then clicked the new part into place. The little boy was about to step off the teleporter, but it suddenly powered up again and cycled to 'send' mode. Unfortunately, the delivery system was currently set to auto-reboot and do a random test of a link in it's database when it encountered an error, and he'd just gotten caught up in it. He barely got out a squawk of surprise before he vanished from the room.

Jin appeared in the bitstream leading to wherever he was being sent, and almost tried to swim against the energy flow when he realized what was going on. _No, no! I wanna go that way!_ It wasn't doing much but making him tired, so he stopped and let the current take him. The flashing lights and patterns around him caught his eye and distracted him a little, and he watched those for a while. _So this is what it looks like from the inside? It's pretty . . . I just wish it was taking me the other way._ The look on his face changed to one of dread. Jin had never left the fortress before, and had no idea what was waiting for him at the other end of the delivery system. Things started getting a whole lot brighter around him; it was pretty obvious the trip was ending, and the frightened child braced himself for arrival in a strange new place.

On a distant planet in a burned out and ruined castle, a delivery system pad powered up and crackled to life. It was about the only thing unscathed in a grand throne room. Even if it was undamaged, the device was sitting idle for a long time, and as such, took longer to activate than a constantly used system might. Once it did, Jin appeared about a foot above the teleport pad in a flash of light and landed with a thud.

"Oww . . . where am I?" Jin whined as he stood up, looking around the area nervously. The burned out throne room looked vaguely familiar and it didn't take him long to remember why. It was a planet Holy Nightmare had done business with, at least until Nightmare decided to finally stop fooling around and attack a few weeks prior. All the people that lived in the castle were either captured or dead, and Jin was almost glad. Being in a strange place was bad enough, he didn't want to deal with angry natives too. Although what he would have to deal with weren't exactly natives to the planet . . . he heard voices outside the room and he froze.

"Hey, I'm getting a life sign over here now! You sure this thing's actually working?" Voice number one sounded gruff and bored. It was like he couldn't be bothered with doing whatever it was, and would rather be doing something else.

Voice number two was female and a little softer. "Yes, it's working, I tested it at the base this morning!" She sounded fairly exasperated with the situation as well, but seemed to hide it better than her counterpart. "I don't get it either though . . . we were just in there and it didn't pick up anything. Wanna do one more sweep just to be sure, Xelcan?"

Voice number one, apparently named Xelcan, spoke again. He still sounded bored, though maybe a little less than earlier. "Yeah, sure, what the hell? It's not like we have anything else to do until Meta Knight decides to get the drop ship and pick us up. And I know you want to see if our mysterious life sign is hurt or not, Shirei . . . you're too much of a medic at heart not to."

Shirei seemed proud of being called a medic. "What can I say, it's what they trained me as first. This sniper crap came later. Well then, shall we go?"

Jin heard footsteps heading in the direction of the throne room, and jumped off the teleporter in search of a place to hide, With all the rubble strewn about the room, he had plenty of choices, but he wanted to be able to see the doorway. Finally deciding on hiding underneath the overturned throne, the young demon scrambled into position and waited for the two people to enter the room.

The one named Xelcan stepped into the throne room first, holding a portable scanner. He looked like little more than a metal ball with feet and eyes, though his eyes were covered by a flashy set of sunglasses. He had a scabbard with a sword attached to him with what looked like a magnet, as well as a star pin that showed he was a member of the Galaxy Soldier Army. He looked around the room and shook his head, which was more like shaking his entire body. "Man, they sure did a number on this place. After so many kingdoms and planets destroyed, you'd think these stupid dictators would figure out that buying from Nightmare is a BAD idea . . ."

Shirei followed her associate inside. She was a lot taller than Xelcan as she was an Avian, one of the tallest races in that part of the galaxy. Her feathers were mostly pink, though the dark clothing she wore contrasted with that. She had a long rifle with a high tech scope strapped to her back, a necessary tool when it came to her main job of taking out enemies from afar. She also wore a Galaxy Soldier Army star pin, and it served as a belt buckle. The Avian just sort of sighed at Xelcan's comments. "Darkness attracts darkness, you know that. If he didn't destroy everything else, I'd almost say Nightmare was doing the galaxy a favor by getting rid of some of these scumbags. Now then, where's that life sign gotten to?"

Xelcan waved the scanner around the room. The scanner beeped a few times, but it beeped the loudest when pointed in the direction of the upended throne in the rear of the room. "It's over here, I think." He started heading in that direction, but stopped short when he heard a whimper come from underneath the throne. "Yeah, definitely over here. All right, whoever you are, you can come out now! We won't hurt you unless you try to do the same to us, I promise."

Jin really didn't want to come out. Those two were with the GSA, after all; who knew what sort of things they'd do to a helpless little demon like himself? Then again, it didn't seem like the two of them realized what he was just from the scan data. And that Xelcan said they wouldn't hurt him, right? Taking a deep breath to get his courage up, Jin poked his head out from his hiding place, messing up his hair a little in the process. He glanced at Xelcan, then at Shirei, and then he crawled the whole way into the open. He stood up, adjusting his sunglasses nervously. "Y-you really won't hurt me? Really?"

Shirei had been bracing herself for any potential threats, but her somewhat stern expression softened when the mysterious life sign turned out to be a scared little boy. Knowing her height could be intimidating, she got down on one knee before speaking. "Aww, why would we want to hurt a cute little guy like you?"

Xelcan sort of snorted in amusement. "Cute? I don't know, something seems a little too off for me to think he's cute."

Shirei glared at her friend. "Meh, you tin cans from Mecheye don't think anything organic is cute." She turned to face Jin again, the feathers on her crest bouncing a little from the movement. "Ignore my metal friend over there, kid, he doesn't know his posterior unit from a hole in the ground. But yeah, we're the good guys, we're not going to hurt you. You're not injured already though, are you? It's a little hard to tell from over here. You could come a little closer if you want, I could get a better look at you that way."

Jin tried not to flinch at the 'good guys' comment and otherwise didn't move. He didn't want to get any closer to them than he had to. "N-no, I'm fine. I'll just stay over here, thanks . . ."

Xelcan was starting to get suspicious of Jin's nervousness, and had to try hard to keep from reaching for his sword. "Something's weird here, Shirei . . . usually if we tell them that, they don't get more nervous. Hey, kid, who are you, really?"

Before Jin could even attempt to stammer out some kind of answer, a faint metallic clattering caught their attention. Someone wearing armor was heading that direction, and it didn't take them long to appear in the doorway. It turned out to be a certain masked blue puffball, also wearing a GSA star pin. He wore a scabbard as well, but the sword was already in his hand. He looked around the room, golden eyes keen for any possible threats.

Shirei glanced back at the newcomer in surprise. "Sir Meta Knight? What are you doing back already?"

Meta Knight seemed to ignore her question. "Shirei, Xelcan, are you two all right? I sensed a demon beast in the area all of a sudden--" He stopped short when he realized his sixth sense was still screaming a warning, and looked straight at Jin. "It's still here! Get away from that thing, soldiers, it's probably trying to trick you!"

Shirei and Xelcan startled as one and jumped backwards a little. It was the Avian who spoke. "He's a demon beast? I'll take your word for it, sir . . . you wouldn't think Nightmare would make them that young, though."

Jin still hadn't moved from where he stood, He looked at them all with apprehension, though actually seeing the legendary Meta Knight surprised him. _That's Meta Knight? I thought he'd be taller . . . _That thought faded quickly as his own sixth sense kicked in, and an overwhelming feeling of dread and terror swept over him. He'd trained enough to know what sensing a Star Warrior felt like, but controlling his reaction when he did was something he needed to work on. The terrified demon backed up against the overturned throne, whimpering. "S-star Warrior . . ."

Meta Knight nodded to himself, Jin's reaction only confirming his feelings. "There, you see. He knows what I am without anyone telling him, and only a demon beast would react with such fear. Although that fear and his appearance could be just an illusion . . . an illusion I'm about to dispel!" The Star Warrior's eyes glowed brighter for a second, and he swept his sword in a forward arc, unleashing a devastating Sword Beam. This one was fairly low powered, but it was more than enough for what he needed. The Sword Beam swept past Jin, missing him by millimeters, and cut the remains of the throne behind him in half.

Abject fear kept Jin frozen in place for a second. After a moment, his feet gave way underneath him, and he dropped to the floor. A loud sob escaped the frightened child, and then another, until he finally curled up in a ball and started crying hysterically.

Xelcan was the first to say something, looking at Meta Knight with half a glare. "Well, that was anti-climactic."

Shirei was a little more angry about it, finding it hard to believe a Star Warrior could be so cold. Her tone was outraged to say the least. "That was uncalled for, Sir Meta Knight! Even if he's a demon beast, he's still only a child!"

Meta Knight wasn't phased by this in the slightest. His voice was dismissive, with sort of a know it all tone thrown in there. "We wouldn't have known that for sure if I hadn't tried to spook him. But even if it's a child, it's still a demon beast. I am wondering why Nightmare made such a useless one, though; even the youngest ones usually have some sort of power to attack with."

Xelcan just shrugged. "Even Nightmare makes mistakes, though in his case sometimes it's literally. Half the time he throws them out like so much trash. We've actually been running into a lot of those lately, maybe he's just another one."

Though Jin was still curled up and sobbing, he was listening to their conversation as well. Being called a mistake cut through his fear, and he managed to look up at the three warriors in front of him. He was still scared and crying a little, but pride demanded that the young demon couldn't let that pass. "I-I'm not a mistake! Nightmare said I'd be really useful once I finish my training . . . he wouldn't throw me out!"

Meta Knight's eyes glowed pink for a second. "My, my; prideful little thing, aren't you?" His eye color changed again, this time darkening to red. The knight brought his sword into an attack position, possibly getting ready to unleash another Sword Beam. "But if he thinks you'll be so useful, I should probably end your life right here." His unfortunate target cringed at this and started crying again.

Before Meta Knight could do anything else, the scanner that Xelcan was still holding started beeping crazily. The metal warrior regarded the scanner's readout and tried to keep the anxiety out of his voice. "Um, sir, this thing just sprouted a whole crapload of other readings! 20 more life signs heading this way and fast . . . wait a minute, 20? Isn't that about the size of one of Nightmare's planet clearing squads?" One of the blips on the scanner's screen got a sudden boost in speed, whatever it was would be on them in seconds. "Oh man, we're about to have company!"

An unholy screech pierced the silence, and what looked like one of Nightmare's gray dragons burst through the doorway, reducing what was left of the great doors to kindling. It wasn't one of Nightmare's dragons, though; this one had horns on it's head and no spines, and it's front feet ended in wickedly sharp claws. It also had a more feminine appearance. The dragon looked around, glaring down at the three warriors, but she didn't seem surprised at seeing Jin cowering in the back of the room. "I knew my hearing wasn't deceiving me! Making a little boy cry, you Galaxy Soldier Army scum should be ashamed of yourselves! Jin, I don't know how you ended up here, but don't worry, it's okay now. I'll just deal with these trifles and then we can go home, all right?"

On hearing the dragon speak, Jin looked up at her and actually managed a smile despite how upset he still was. "Alya! Be careful, Alya, the blue one's a Star Warrior!"

Alya the dragon seemed to smirk at this. "A Star Warrior, huh? This'll be more fun than I thought!" At this she opened her mouth, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth, then she breathed lightning at the three GSA warriors. Xelcan and Meta Knight managed to dodge, but Shirei got caught in the blast. The force of it bounced the Avian off one of the walls, she slid to the ground finally and didn't get back up. Shirei probably wasn't dead, but she wouldn't be getting back up for a while, either.

Not that the other two fighters knew that. "Shirei! You'll pay for that, you beast!" Xelcan roared in rage and drew his sword, charging at Alya for revenge. The dragon humored the enraged fighter for a while by parrying his sword strikes with her claws, but eventually got bored and swatted him aside with her tail. Xelcan landed a little better than Shirei had earlier, managing to kick off the wall he was heading for instead of slamming into it. He landed beside Meta Knight, looking worried. "Man, that was stupid of me . . . think you could hit her with a Sword Beam, boss? We're not gonna win otherwise!"

Meta Knight was already in the process of letting loose a Sword Beam long before Xelcan even thought of it. He flicked the deadly energy in the general direction of Alya's head, but startled when she only smiled at the incoming beam of death. That's when the dragon started glowing bright enough to obscure her form. She started to shrink too, the Sword Beam flying well over her as she did. But Alya wasn't so much shrinking as she was changing. What used to be a gigantic dragon eventually settled into a humanoid form not quite as tall as an Avian, but still much taller than Xelcan or Meta Knight. As the glow finally faded, the two warriors got a good look at Alya's new form. She looked similar to Fumu's race, or maybe Silica's race would be a better description. Her skin was pale, though not pure white, and long blond hair cascaded from her head. She wore a somewhat nondescript set of light armor, and fingerless gloves. She seemed like a relatively normal woman, except for the horns curling back slightly from the top of her head, her pointed ears, and the set of dragon wings on her back.

Meta Knight nearly dropped his sword in shock, but managed to hang onto it. His voice was full of disbelief. "You . . . you're a Dracan. Why would a member of such an honorable race serve Nightmare?!"

Alya's green eyes had a jaded look to them, as if she was really tired of answering that question. "Hmph, it's because everyone else isn't honorable. Across the stars, my kind are persecuted and enslaved for what we are . . . it's not like that at Holy Nightmare. It's one of the few places I've actually felt welcomed to in a long time." She smiled then, but her eyes didn't quite reflect it. "And just to prove how honorable I am, I'm going to give you a choice. You fools are going to be outnumbered in a minute, and with one of you incapacitated already I don't need to tell you what your odds are. You have two options. One: stay and fight me, in which case you'll be overrun by my associates and die horribly, or be captured and turned by Nightmare. Two: you get out of my way and run for your pathetic little lives. I suggest you do this, it's the best option for everyone here. You won't die, and I won't have to worry about the little one over there getting caught in the fighting."

Meta Knight considered Alya's words, his eyes glowing a faint green. She was right, of course. Even with the advantage of being a Star Warrior, he and Xelcan would still be overwhelmed by 19 demon beasts and a Dracan. The knight had far too many things to accomplish before he died, so his choice was more or less already made. Meta Knight headed over to where Shirei had fallen. "Xelcan, we're leaving. Help me get Shirei to the drop ship."

Xelcan hesitated at first. "What? We're trusting that witch after what she did to Shirei? How do we know she's really going to let us go?"

Meta Knight pinned the other GSA fighter with a glare. "This Alya will keep her word, because she is Dracan. Besides, her duty as a guardian takes far more priority than any desire she might have to kill us all."

Alya startled slightly at that last comment, but then just smiled a little. "Very observant, Star Warrior. Only someone as attentive to battle as yourself would've noticed I was holding back. Though if you pushed the issue, all three of you would be dead right now. Well then, get out of here . . . we all have our duties to fulfill, after all."

With that, Meta Knight and Xelcan collected the unconscious Shirei and headed for the exit. The Star Warrior paused for a second, but then thought better of it and continued on his way. He wouldn't thank Alya, as she would probably try her hardest to kill him if they ever crossed paths again.

Alya watched them go for a moment, then turned her attention to Jin, who was sitting there quietly except for the occasional sniffle. She made her way over to him and asked, "Jin, are you all right? That mean old Star Warrior didn't hurt you, did he?"

Jin managed to stand up, though his sniffling got louder. He was still too upset to really give her an answer, and he started crying. The young demon ran up to Alya and started clinging to her in a death grip, sobbing into her clothing.

With a sigh, Alya scooped up Jin and held him close, trying to comfort him. "Well, that answers that question . . . you've just had a good scare, that's all. Shh, it's all right, those scary GSA fools are gone now. We'll go home in a few minutes, just as soon as the rest of my squad gets here."

It didn't take long for the rest of Alya's squad of demon beasts to arrive after that. Most of the 19 demon beasts were of the smaller variety, though there were a few dragons and other bigger ones thrown in there. There was a KittariHattari there for distractions too, and he was the one who approached Alya first. "So, this is why you took off? Our little commander in training . . . how the hell did he get here, anyway?"

Alya glanced at the still intact teleporter pad. She was a little surprised that her lightning attack earlier hadn't damaged it."I'd imagine via that thing. I'm hoping it still works, since the transport ship will take a few days to get back, and I'd really like to get him home as soon as I can. You see a working control panel around here anywhere?"

The demon beasts turned that burned out throne room upside down looking for a functioning control panel, eventually finding one along one of the walls. KittariHattari looked happy at the find. "Found one!" He clomped over to it and poked a few buttons, regarding the small display set into the panel. "Looks like it's kinda low on power, but there should be enough for one more trip to the fortress. I can get it ready for you if you'd like, Alya."

"Yes, go ahead. I don't know the first thing about running the delivery system." At that, Alya looked down at the still sobbing child she held. Jin was starting to calm down, but it'd still be a while before he was coherent enough to do much. Alya shifted his weight into her left arm, while she reached up with her right and stroked his hair gently. "Jin here knows how, but he's in no shape to at the moment. As far as the mission goes, I think you can finish up without me. Nearly everything on this planet is dead or dying at this point. I'd tell you to come with me in the delivery system, but heck, someone has to take the ship back! Yeah, mop up and then come home; I'll see you there in a few days."

After some more poking of buttons and a few beeps from the console, KittariHattari got the delivery system to power up. The mechanical demon beast turned towards Alya again. "From the orbital scans alone, there's nothing left here. Even with half our numbers, this would be a breeze. Go on, get going; we'll catch up later."

With that, Alya flapped her wings a few times, just enough so she could glide onto the transporter pad. She certainly wasn't going to be able to jump up there while carrying Jin. On landing, her friend at the controls activated the device, and in a flash of light, the Dracan and her charge vanished.

The trip back across the internet and to the fortress was short, not that Jin really took notice. He was finally quiet, and yawned a little before trying to make himself more comfortable in Alya's grip. Stress completely sapped what little energy reserves the young demon had, and he'd likely fall asleep within a few minutes of arriving back home.

Alya and Jin appeared on the fortress's delivery system pad with another flashy light show, and found themselves surrounded by a small army of confused techs. They'd been alerted when the delivery system threw that first error message, but didn't get there in time to see Jin's not so grand exit. They'd been analyzing the log files and were about to dismiss the error as a false alarm, but that's when the system powered up and the demon and the Dracan appeared. Alya just glared at them. "All right, out of the way! Jin can try and explain what happened later, right now the poor guy needs a nap." The techs got out of her path at the order, and Alya hopped down from the pad, still carrying Jin.

Alya was nearly to the exit leading to the elevators, when she heard one of the monitors she passed turn on. She turned around and sure enough, Nightmare was on it, the image of him in the center of the screen looking down at her. After a moment, the Emperor of Darkness spoke to her. "So, you've brought him back, have you? Good. Losing him would've interfered with my plans more than I'm willing to tolerate."

The Dracan debated on breathing lightning at the monitor, but thought better of it. Alya settled on looking annoyed instead. "You and your plans . . ." She thought about Nightmare's words for a second and got an idea, though. "But speaking of plans, if you're going to have me do missions now, I can't be around to protect Jin all the time. Maybe you could make him another guardian, sort of as a pet or something. I know you've been working on a couple of new demon beasts, you could use one of those."

If you looked hard enough at the monitor, you could see one of Nightmare's eyebrows twitch. "I'll think about it."

The monitor shut off again, but Alya was already walking away. By the time she stepped into one of the elevators, Jin was sound asleep. Hearing Nightmare's voice finally made the little demon feel safe enough to drift off . . .

* * *

Jin tried to remain an objective adult while telling the story, though with all that childhood fear attached it was a little hard. Still, the memory had been partially suppressed, and recalling it was sort of draining. He laid there on the table watching Meta Knight, wondering if the knight actually believed him.

After a minute, Meta Knight said something, his eyes glowing faintly. "Ah yes, now I remember. You look nothing like you did as a child, that's why I was having a hard time thinking I've run into you before."

"Well, do you look the same as you did when you were a child?" Jin remembered something amusing about that and grinned. "Though I'm willing to hazard a guess as to what you looked like . . . you looked just like Kirby when you were younger, didn't you?"

It took most of Meta Knight's ability to look nonchalant to keep himself from startling at that. His voice was cool when he spoke, neither confirming or denying Jin's suspicions. "And what makes you think that?"

Jin took a second to think about it, his grin not really fading. "Even with that mask, you still look similar to the pink ball. That and Nightmare told me once that he based Kirby off of whatever species you are."

Meta Knight just sighed. "I just can't win, can I? I suggest you don't tell anyone else about this; it'll be bad for your health if you do."

Before Jin even had a chance to look nervous at Meta Knight's words, there was a commotion out in the hallway. Sword and Blade were standing watch out there, trying to make sure Fumu or anyone else didn't bother Meta Knight while he was working. Unfortunately, a certain penguin monarch had wandered into the basement and seemed to have issues with that.

Dedede glared at the two knights, but he didn't get his mallet out to swat them aside. Well, not yet, anyway. "Come on, get out of my way! Your boss is using something of mine down here without permission. I heard our weasel of a prisoner screaming the whole way from the throne room; if Meta Knight's going to have some fun with him, I want to watch at least!"

Sword tried to keep Dedede from going any further. "Your Majesty, Sir Meta Knight is busy--"

The king just shoved Sword aside, and continued on his way. Dedede stepped into the cell, and on taking in the scene, he just grinned evilly. "Having fun without me, Meta Knight? Now that's just rude. You could've at least let your king get the first shot at torturing him!"

Meta Knight sounded annoyed. "This is interrogation, Your Majesty. While it may involve causing some pain, it's not without purpose. Besides, I'm finished anyway. Jin didn't know anything about what I asked, and anything else I want to know probably won't require as much persuasion."

Dedede looked disappointed. "Aw, that's no fun!" The king sensed a potential opportunity, though, and grinned evilly again. "Come on, Meta Knight, one more zap probably won't kill him. Move over and let me have a try; you can think of it as making up for being such a disloyal servant!"

Jin tensed at Dedede's words, but didn't outright panic or start fighting with his restraints. The exhaustion that was starting to show on his face was just too much, and he'd be lucky to walk back to his cell without help, let alone try to break free. Also, the former salesman observed Meta Knight and Dedede's interactions with each other almost from the beginning, and past behavior showed that the knight would refuse. The armored puffball could be very unpredictable if he wanted to be, though, so Jin still started bracing himself for another round of shocks.

Meta Knight would play true to form, however. "Disloyal? That's ridiculous. Why would I have to make up for something like that?" The knight pressed a button sequence and the machine audibly powered down. There was a faint click and the shackles holding Jin in place came open, retracting into the table a second later.

Jin just laid there for half a minute before attempting to slide off the table. He was unsteady on his feet, but managed to keep his balance somehow. The demon smirked a little at Dedede. "Well, better luck next time, Your Majesty."

Dedede absolutely lost it. "All right, that's it! I don't need that stupid machine, I'm just gonna clobber you myself!" The king went charging towards Jin, who lost his balance and ended up on the floor when he tried to run away.

Meta Knight had a split second to make a choice. He could let Dedede attack Jin, in which case the demon would be hurt badly, or he could stop the king somehow. The knight hated the two of them equally; but at the moment Dedede was being slightly more annoying. Meta Knight stuck one foot out in front of Dedede, making the king trip and land on his face.

Dedede picked himself off the floor, glaring back at Meta Knight. "Why you little--"

The armored puffball only pointed at the many wires strewn across the floor of the room. Meta Knight's eyes glowed pink for a fraction of a second as he said, "You really should have Escargon see about making those wires a little neater. It'd make it a little safer to walk around in here."

Dedede sputtered in rage, but eventually settled on storming out of the cell. He looked back at them one last time and growled, "You're both gonna pay for this. I don't know how yet, but you're gonna pay!", then stomped out of the room.

Meta Knight just shook his head as he watched Dedede leave, then turned to face Jin, who'd managed to stand up again. "You know, you really shouldn't do that when you're in no condition to run."

Jin just laughed a little tiredly. "It's a force of habit, I guess. Annoying His Majesty is just too fun. But speaking of which, I saw you trip him right there. I might have been a little spooked but I still saw it. Why would you do that?"

Meta Knight's eyes glowered red for a moment. "Since when do I have to explain myself to you?"

Jin looked nervous at that but otherwise didn't react much. "Not feeling talkative? That's all right, it goes with your image, I suppose." He idly looked around the room and sighed. "Well then, I take it we're done here? I think I can walk back without help . . ." As he said that, he tried taking a step forward and nearly fell over. He had to reach over and brace himself against the table to stay on his feet. "Or maybe not. Blast it all, I hate being so weak!"

Meta Knight's voice was thoughtful as he spoke. "Well, we can't all be strong. The world's probably better off that way." He glanced at the other knights, who were standing in the doorway. "Sword, Blade! Jin's going to need some help getting back to his cell. You probably don't need to carry him, just keep him from falling. After you finish with that, we'll get to the evening patrol." With a swish of his cape, Meta Knight left the room, leaving his two servants to their task.

Sword and Blade entered the cell and walked up to Jin, Sword standing to his right and Blade to his left. The two knights got ready to hold him up and Blade asked, "You ready?"

Jin had an embarrassed expression on his face. "Yes, I'm ready. This is so humiliating."

Sword spoke up, his voice sounding almost as embarrassed as Jin was. "Yeah, we know. But it's either this or leaving you in here, so let's get going. Besides, it's Sir Meta Knight's orders, and I'm not going to disobey him."

The three of them managed to get started on their way. It was slow going, with Sword or Blade having to hold Jin up when he lost his balance, but they made steady progress. It took them around five minutes to get to the other cell, and the two knights even helped Jin over to his bed. After doing that, they left the cell and locked the door behind them. Jin watched them leave and yawned. After a second he laid down and pulled the thin sheet over himself, and tried to get to sleep. It would take a while, but sleep still came faster to him than the previous night.


	3. Chapter 3

Wow, it's chapter three . . .

An Unlikely Sort of Paradise  
by Shadow Wolf75

A week had passed, and for that entire week, the same thought had come to Jin on waking to an unfamiliar ceiling. Today would be no exception. _Where am I?_ He sat up in bed and looked around confusedly, but as he woke up more, he remembered what happened and just sighed a little. At least that was better than the first two days, where he'd gotten out of bed and demanded the nearest Waddle Dee to tell him where he was and why he was down there. That only confused the Dees, and their language barrier kept them from answering Jin properly anyway. The purple-haired demon prided himself on his knowledge of the languages in that area of the galaxy, but he still couldn't understand a word of Waddle Dee.

Yawning, Jin pulled himself out of bed and wandered over to his cell door. He looked up and down the hallway for a second, wondering if he'd see anyone other than a Waddle Dee that day. _Wait, I don't really care if I only see those little things . . . they're a lot less irritating than the other people here._ With that thought, he started to turn away from the hall, but that's when he heard a "Poyo!" off in the distance.

Kirby came almost skipping down the corridor, as perky as ever. The pink puff had shown up in the dungeon just about every other day to visit Jin, oblivious to the demon's general hatred of him. Kirby was likewise oblivious of the glare Jin was aiming at him, and he stepped up to the bars with a greeting. "Poyo poyo!"

Jin just kept glaring. He didn't know why Kirby kept appearing to see him, he just wished the puffball would go away. His sixth sense was already starting to bother him with Kirby's conflicting reading of Star Warrior and demon beast. Oddly enough, the unsettled feeling didn't have as much of an edge to it as it would if he was staring at Meta Knight. The faint traces that marked Kirby as one of Nightmare's creations were one of the few things that still seemed familiar to Jin, so maybe that's why it didn't seem so bad. _That might be the reason why he keeps coming here, though . . . he senses something somewhat familiar about me and wants to be friendly. But I'll never forgive this blasted pink ball for what he's done; he might as well not even bother._ Nightmare's death was still far too fresh in his mind, the hate in his voice showing that better than anything else. "Kirby. So you've come back again, have you? I really don't know why you keep trying; my feelings aren't going to change."

Kirby blinked in confusion, not really understanding why Jin was so hostile. "Poyo?"

Jin kept talking, anger and pain fueling his words. "Tell me, you foolish little puffball, do you even understand that you've killed your own father? No, I'd imagine not . . . the only thing you really understand or care about is food. It's hard to believe such a simple minded creature could defeat Nightmare. It's almost an insult, really. A failed creation like yourself couldn't possibly be that strong!" The demon started pacing along the length of his cell, lost in thought. "I still don't understand how you managed it. I'm not sure if I ever will at this point, there's just too many things about your victory that are unknown." Jin turned to face Kirby again, sadness softening his next words. "Why did you have to be the one to walk away?"

Kirby had tears in his purple eyes. He still didn't understand, but Jin being so upset was making him sad. "Poyo . . ." The pink puff ran off after that, wanting to find Fumu. She'd make things better like always.

Jin was left standing there alone. After a moment, he nodded to himself, satisfied that he'd at least gotten Kirby to leave. He took one last look up and down the hallway, then stepped towards the pile of books that was up against one wall. Somehow the Waddle Dees must've heard that he wanted something to read, and they were bringing books down to him ever since. The demon grabbed a book from the top of the pile and headed back to his bed, sitting down to read. On further inspection, the book actually seemed sort of familiar. There was no mistaking it, the green covered book was the same Encyclopedia of Botanica that Dedede had shown him however long ago. Jin opened it and flipped through the first few pages, but was surprised to discover that Escargon had written it. _I didn't know he had anything published . . . this might be interesting. On the other hand, it might put me back to sleep._ In the end, he shrugged and started reading, too curious about the book to switch it for another one.

* * *

Somewhere upstairs, Kirby was wandering around, still looking for Fumu. He found her in her living room, looking like she was getting ready to go on a nature hike. Fumu's parents and brother were there too; Parm and Memu seemed to be cleaning up the table from lunch, and Bun was watching Channel DDD in boredom. Kirby walked up to Fumu, still a little bit upset from earlier. "Poyo poyo . . ."

Fumu looked concerned at the little guy's sadness, but then her expression turned slightly angry as she remembered the likely cause of Kirby being upset. "Kirby, why are you-- oh, you went to see Jin again, didn't you? That makes me mad . . . you're just trying to be friendly and he keeps being mean! We should keep him locked up down there forever if he's going to be that way."

Parm shook his head at his daughter's anger. "Now, Fumu, it's not like Jin doesn't have good reason to dislike Kirby. If someone were to hurt your mother or I, wouldn't you be mad at that person? What if they destroyed your home as well? It's only natural that he's pushing Kirby away. Maybe eventually Jin could find it in his heart to forgive him, but for now it's impossible." Parm looked down at Kirby, trying to be serious with him. "Kirby, maybe you shouldn't bother Jin for a while. It's too soon for him to even think of considering you a friend."

Kirby looked sort of mad at that advice, and protested as best he could. "Poyo!"

Parm was a little surprised. "You want to keep trying? Even if he keeps pushing you away?"

Kirby nodded, not even considering another answer. "Poyo poyo!"

Bun looked over from where he was watching tv and grinned. "Man, Kirby's more stubborn than you sometimes, sis!"

Fumu just sighed as she looked at her brother, then back at Kirby. "I'd wonder why you thought he was worth it, but you like pretty much everyone, Kirby. So, you want to go on that nature hike now?"

That seemed to perk Kirby right up, and he bounced around happily. "Poyo!"

Bun hopped off the couch, turned the tv off and went over to Kirby and his sister. "I'm coming too! Even a nature hike's better than watching the same old repeats on Channel DDD."

As the three of them headed down the corridors to leave, they passed Escargon. The snail was grumbling about something, but they paid it no mind and continued on their way.

Escargon was in a pretty foul mood, having to do something for Dedede that any random Waddle Dee could've done. "Why do I have to get His Majesty's after-lunch wine? True, Waddle Doo couldn't pick a proper vintage if his life depended on it, but some of the Dees aren't quite as hopeless. Oh well, maybe if I impress him enough with my choice, he'll let me have some too." He kept walking, making his way downstairs and eventually to the dungeon and wine cellar area. Escargon had to pass Jin's cell on the way, but didn't spare him a glance and kept right on going.

Jin looked up from his reading as Escargon went past, and a bit of an evil smirk appeared on his face. If the snail noticed he was still reading the Encyclopedia of Botanica when he went past again, at the very least the next few minutes wouldn't be boring.

It took him a while, but Escargon eventually came back, carrying a bottle of wine. He probably wouldn't have stopped at all if he hadn't idly glanced over at Jin. Once he did, he noticed what the former salesman was reading and stopped in his tracks. "Hey, where'd you get that? There's only two copies of the Encyclopedia of Botanica in this castle and mine's safe in my room, so then--" The snail's eyes went wide and he raised his voice in surprise. "That's the autographed copy I gave to His Majesty!"

That certainly made Jin curious, and he turned back to the front of the book. Under the picture of Escargon on the third page, there was the inscription: 'To His Majesty with love, Escargon'. He laughed a little at that and said, "Why, so it is. I'm wondering why you gave His Majesty something like this; he's incapable of appreciating it. I'm sure he only looked at the pictures, and then just left it lying around for the Waddle Dees to find. And there aren't any words for this inscription . . . how can you love someone like that?"

Escargon stuttered in trying to explain. "I, well, that is--" All at once he seemed to remember who he was talking to, and he started yelling. "It's the thought that counts, dammit! And how I feel about His Majesty is none of your business! Now, give that back before I decide you'd make a good guinea pig for one of my experiments . . . I wonder how a demon beast would react to some of the more interesting potions I have cooked up?"

Jin glared at the snail for that last question. "First of all, the correct term in regards to myself is 'demon'. I'm most certainly not a mindless animal. Secondly, I don't want to give this back, I'm not finished with it yet. Besides, wouldn't you like to hear what I think of your writing? I may not be very familiar with the subject material, but I can still comment on the writing itself."

Escargon looked a little skeptical. "I'm not sure I want to hear anything you have to say. Then again, you won't be able to cause any trouble by lying or leaving something out this time, unlike a while back with that metal shell you sent over."

Jin smiled at the memory of that very strange day and the plan that went with it. "You're still holding a grudge about that? I provided a service, but it's not my fault you decided to try on that shell. Getting back to the subject, though, I wouldn't lie about a book. That just doesn't feel right to me for some reason, I'm not really sure why."

If anything, Escargon's expression turned more skeptical, but then he just kind of shrugged. "Huh, so there's something even you'll be honest about? I guess there are miracles in this world after all. All right, since you seem so eager about it, go ahead; tell me what you think of my masterpiece."

Jin nodded in reply, grinning. If Escargon's reaction was anything like the one he had earlier, at the very least the demon would have something to laugh about for a while. "Well, I'll try. The style seems like it would be more at home in a novel than in a scientific reference, but at least it's different." He opened the book and flipped to a random article, one that was lacking an image of the plant it described. "You go a little overboard with the descriptions, though in these entries that don't have pictures I guess it's required." Finally he turned towards the back of the book, where there was an article about Whispy Woods. "The one thing I really don't like is how often you seemed to make things up about rare or legendary plants like Whispy Woods here. If he was really a demon beast I think I'd know that, or at least remember some record of it from Holy Nightmare's database."

Escargon got downright huffy. "He might not be a demon beast but he certainly acts like one at times! Always keeping His Majesty's country club from opening, that's just rude . . . he even almost killed us once, do you know that? And anyway, I probably fixed everything in the second edition, so none of that even matters!"

Jin started laughing at that. "You must not love His Majesty that much, then. Not if you're willing to give him outdated information. Well, I doubt he could read all those big words anyway, so there's not much difference."

Before Escargon could even attempt to let loose his outrage, he and Jin heard Dedede bellow from the throne room. "Escargon!! Where the hell are you? I'm thirsty and you aren't here with my wine yet!"

Escargon jumped in surprise and a little fear, though he managed not to drop the bottle of wine he still held. He aimed a glare at Jin before yelling at him one last time. "If I didn't have to leave, I'd sic the Dees on you right now and have them haul you to my lab! I wouldn't kill you, but there are many things worse than death, you know . . ." The snail slithered away, without giving Jin one backward glance.

Still snickering faintly, Jin watched Escargon go and almost started laughing again. _Yes, that was fun. I'll have to bother him about his feelings for His Majesty again sometime. Love is such a foolish thing . . . _Old memories ran through his mind, of a time when he didn't feel like that, and he pushed them aside. _That was a long time ago, and it wasn't even the same thing! At least that wasn't unrequited . . . if it was, I'm not sure I'd be alive right now._ Finally sighing at his memories, Jin stood up from his bed, taking the Encyclopedia of Botanica with him and moving to place it on the 'read' pile. He retrieved a new book and sat back down to read, his thoughts occasionally drifting back to old times as he turned the pages.

* * *

A few more days had gone by, and Fumu was making her way down to the dungeon. She brought her old abacus with her. She didn't use it anymore, so she wanted to give it to Jin as a peace offering, in hopes that he might decide to talk to her. The answer he gave her at that meeting still bothered her, so she wanted to see if he had anything else to say about it. When Fumu arrived at Jin's cell, at first glance Jin appeared to be asleep, lying on his bed and facing away from the door. After a few seconds of standing there, though, she heard him humming softly to himself. She didn't know if he was doing it to try and put himself to sleep, or just trying to fight the endless silence of the dungeon, but he sounded sort of lonely. Pity tugged at her and she tried to fight it off. _Why do I feel sorry for him? I shouldn't feel sorry for him, he's evil, and he sent all those demon beasts after Kirby! Being down here all by himself must be terrible, though. _Still conflicted but managing to hide it, Fumu tried to get Jin's attention. "Um, Jin, can I talk to you for a minute? I have something for you, too."

Jin didn't move other than to try and wave her off. "And why would I want anything from you? Go find Kirby or someone else if you want to give out presents, I'm not interested."

Fumu frowned at his stubbornness, but she knew there had to be some way to get through to him. Getting an idea, she smiled. "Are you sure? I think you'll like this . . ." She trailed off and tilted the abacus to reset it, letting the sound of the beads clicking against each other echo through the dungeon.

At that very familiar sound, Jin sat up in bed, not quite believing his ears. An odd sense of longing swept over him, and it only intensified when he actually turned around and saw the abacus Fumu held. How long was it since the last time he ran his fingers across the beads of the digital abacus he'd designed and built himself? Weeks? A whole month? It'd been far too long, and seeing another abacus in front of him but just out of reach was starting to drive him crazy. Pride was about the only thing that kept Jin from begging her to give it to him as he stepped closer to the cell door. "Where did you find that? And why would you give away something so useful?"

Fumu started to explain. "Well, it's mine, but I don't use it anymore. Not that I don't know how to use an abacus, it's just more trouble than a normal calculator. I think you'll get more use out of it than I will, since you actually seem to like using one of these. At least it would be something familiar for you to have while you're here." She moved forward and held the abacus out between the bars, so that Jin could take it. "There you go, it's yours now."

Jin took the abacus, making sure to keep his emotions under control so he wouldn't rip it from Fumu's hands. "Thank you very much." After getting the feel of the beads for a moment, Jin ran the abacus through it's paces, calculating out a ridiculously huge number. A contented smile slowly made its way onto his face as he worked, the mental exercise letting him forget his predicament for a while.

Fumu smiled to herself, glad that her gift made Jin feel a little better almost immediately. As he kept going, though, she started to wonder just what he was adding up. "Do I even want to know what that number is?"

The flurry of clicking beads slowed down and eventually stopped, Jin grinning somewhat wickedly at his handiwork. "His Majesty certainly wouldn't want to; it's his total debt to Holy Nightmare." He turned the abacus around to show Fumu, and as she read the placement of the beads she winced.

Fumu reacted in shock. "A trillion deden? I knew Dedede was irresponsible, but that's just outrageous! He wouldn't have been able to pay that even if he taxed the village into oblivion."

Jin nodded in reply, still smiling. He sounded proud of what he had to say next. "Yes, I know. That was usually the point; we would take all of a client's money, and then attack to take anything else of value. I don't recall ever letting someone's debt reach those heights before we attacked, though. Nightmare did think Kirby was slightly amusing, so that might be one reason why we held off for so long."

Fumu couldn't hear any remorse or regret in Jin's words, and that just made her mad. She still had questions for him, though, so Fumu managed to keep her anger to herself. "Speaking of Nightmare, do you remember the other day, when I asked you why you served him? You didn't really go into much detail then. So, I was wondering, do you have anything else to say about it? Just one reason why you thought you couldn't try something else would be helpful."

Jin's smile faded at the question. She just couldn't let him keep his mind off things, could she? _I'd rather not talk about it, but she was nice enough to give me this . . . it's not the most subtle bribe ever, but she still has room to learn._ He turned the abacus back around and idly flicked at one of the beads, his voice gaining a slight edge at first. "Still trying to figure me out, are you? Well, I thought I answered your question well enough at that meeting, but I guess I was wrong. Why did I serve Nightmare, and why didn't I leave? You have to remember, Nightmare created me. Asking me to turn against him is just like asking you to disown your father. I saw what happened to the fools who rebelled, too. They could consider themselves lucky if Nightmare only decided to kill them. A few were even exiled. Yes, they got what they wanted; but they were all alone out there, with no one to help them if they were attacked by Star Warriors or angry natives. So, are those good enough reasons for you?"

Instead of clearing things up, Jin's answer only left Fumu more confused. The demon having loyalty to anyone was a bit of a shock, especially with the comparison he used. She didn't expect him to have the same sort of fears that most everyone else had, either. Fumu was thoughtful when she spoke. "Well, they help, anyway. I guess you're not all that different from us if you think about it." Something about what he'd said was bugging her, though. In a flash it came to her, it was the way he tensed slightly when he mentioned the exiled rebels being alone. It bothered her enough that she finally just asked about it. "Um, you're in a similar situation to those exiles you said about . . . are you sure you're okay with being down here all by yourself?"

Jin replied a little too quickly, but he certainly couldn't let Fumu keep up that line of thought. He forced his smile to reappear and acted as calm and collected as he could. "This is entirely different from anything they went through! I'm just fine, don't worry about it. It's safe here, and it's not as if this is the middle of nowhere and I'm completely alone, so it's not that bad."

Fumu looked at him a little skeptically, not really taking Jin's word for it, but not wanting to argue with him either. She started to turn to leave. "Well, if you say so. I guess I'll just be going, then . . . you'd probably rather be reading, anyway." She turned and left the way she came, trying not to feel guilty for leaving him. _He said he was fine, so he's fine! Though if he wasn't being honest . . . _Fumu tried not to think about it too much as she headed upstairs, still feeling conflicted.

Jin sighed in relief as he watched Fumu leave, glad that he managed to keep her from finding any sort of weakness. Part of him wished she would've stuck around a little longer, though pride and hatred wouldn't let him fully admit it. He hadn't thought loneliness would be much of a problem, but that was before he was stuck down there for two weeks straight. True, like he'd said to Fumu he wasn't ever completely alone, but Waddle Dees weren't much for conversation. _I wish someone else would come down here more often . . . I miss talking to people. Why is this bothering me so much, though?_ He really couldn't figure out what the problem was. It was just a vague feeling of uneasiness that he couldn't place to a memory, and trying to focus on it only made it all the more fleeting. _If I can't remember what's causing this, maybe I shouldn't be trying to recall it._ Dismissing the feeling as something best not explored, Jin headed back towards his bed, still carrying the abacus. He sat down and started practicing his calculations. Fumu might not have noticed, but the demon's normally blazing fast speed when it came to solving equations was slightly off. Practice was the only good way to keep his speed up, so that's what he did. Anyone who ventured into the dungeon area would hear the clicking of abacus beads well into the night, as Jin tried to make up for lost time.

* * *

A week had passed since Fumu's visit, and Jin was lying on his bed, trying to ignore how loudly his stomach was growling. Waddle Doo was just there to deliver his daily meal, but Jin couldn't rightly call that food, so he'd kicked the tray out of his cell. It was still sitting overturned out in the corridor, though Waddle Dees were moving to clean up the mess. He'd lost count of the number of times he refused to eat the food he was brought. He knew it wasn't good for his health and his suit was already starting to fit a little loosely, but getting sick from something he ate was just as bad in his mind. The demon certainly didn't expect anyone else to show up, so he was a little surprised when Sword and Blade came walking into view. The two swordsmen stopped just in front of the cell door, looking in at their prisoner.

Sword spoke up first, sounding annoyed. "Hey you, Waddle Doo says you're not eating."

Jin didn't move except to glance over at Sword and Blade. Sitting up or standing would take energy that he really couldn't afford to lose. His voice was a little weak when he spoke, though he seemed to ignore it. "I don't know why Waddle Doo bothered you about this, but there's really no problem. I'm just not hungry today, that's all." His stomach growled loudly enough to be heard out in the hallway, and he sounded irritable when he said something else. "All right, so maybe I am hungry, but I wouldn't touch whatever it was they gave me even if it wasn't decorating the floor right now! It's bad enough that I'm stuck in here, but not giving me anything edible is cruel and unusual punishment."

Sword just sort of shrugged, having no sympathy for the hungry demon. He and Blade had to subsist on worse things when their homeworld was ruined. "I don't know, I think it's fitting, considering what Holy Nightmare did to our planet."

Meanwhile, Blade went over to investigate the mess the Waddle Dees were trying to clean up. The smell hit him first, and he really didn't want to see what was under the tray. "Sword, we've eaten bugs that smelled better than this stuff. Either His Majesty is getting some of this from Kawasaki's, or he's ordering the Dees to make terrible food on purpose."

"K-Kawasaki?" Jin failed to hold back a shudder, and he curled up a little tighter in his place on the bed. "Why doesn't His Majesty just put me out of my misery and be done with it?"

Sword seemed amused, and didn't quite keep it out of his voice as he said, "Nobody will let him, so I guess he figured torturing you like this would be almost as good. I'm sorry, but there's really not much we can do about it if it's one of His Majesty's orders."

Jin glared at Sword, not in the mood to listen to any false sincerity. "Please, leave the lying to those of us who are experts. It doesn't suit you, and you're not very good at it either. You're not sorry, and even if you could do something, you wouldn't bother! I expect that little girl and her family to pretend not to hate me, but seeing it from a servant of Meta Knight is just pathetic."

Sword drew his weapon, the bronze-toned blade ringing as he pulled it from it's scabbard. He managed to stop short of slicing the cell door to bits, though. Even with his anger, a direct order from Meta Knight not to harm the prisoner was more than enough to keep him from attacking Jin. That didn't mean he couldn't express his rage in other ways. "Damn right I'm not sorry! I'm glad they're not feeding you properly, now you know how the people on my home planet felt after Nightmare destroyed everything. Starvation's not fun, is it? You deserve that and more, and if I didn't have orders--" Sword cut his rant short at the sound of approaching footsteps, not wanting anyone other than Blade to see him lose his cool like that. He put his sword away too, so whoever it was wandering that way wouldn't get the wrong idea about why the two knights were standing there.

There was a "Poyo!" from somewhere further down the hallway, and Kirby came trotting into view. The little puffball was carrying an apple for some reason, but as he came closer, it quickly became apparent just why he was doing that. Kirby walked right up to the wall of bars that separated Jin's cell from the rest of the hall, and held out the apple as if he wanted Jin to take it. "Poyo? Poyo poyo!"

Blade watched Kirby's antics for a minute, but finally spoke up when Jin refused to acknowledge the young Star Warrior. "Kirby doesn't give food to just anyone, you know. He only does that if they're a friend, or if he'd like them to be his friend. I don't know if it's because he's never seen you do anything bad, or if he sees past all your acting to something that you don't even realize is there. Kirby's a good friend to have, though, and you'd be a fool to refuse him." At this, Blade reached over and plucked the apple Kirby was holding out of his grip, laughing faintly when the puff started to hop up and try to get it back. "Don't worry, I'm not going to eat it, I'm just looking!" Further inspection confirmed the knight's suspicions about just where the apple came from. "This is from Whispy Woods; it'll solve your problems for today, at least." Blade swung his arm back and pitched the apple into the cell, making it land neatly beside Jin on the bed.

Jin eyed the apple with suspicion. "Now see here, I have no intentions of accepting anything from that pink ball! Besides, how do I know this won't kill me the second I feel crazy enough to take a bite?"

Blade had been relatively calm considering his partner's earlier reaction, but that just changed. It was one thing to refuse bad food, but now Jin was being stubborn. "No, you're going to eat that and be happy about it, or things won't be pretty when we come back around on patrol later. Kirby had to travel a long way to get that apple, so you'd better be grateful." The green-armored knight turned to look at Sword and Kirby. "All right, guys, we've got training in about five minutes; we don't want to keep Sir Meta Knight waiting!"

Without another word, Sword, Blade, and Kirby headed upstairs. They weren't more than halfway up the stairs when Sword asked, "Why were you being so nice to that creep?"

Blade shrugged and kept walking. "I wasn't being nice for him, I was being nice for Kirby." He looked a little further up the staircase at the pink puff, who was happily bouncing along. "He learns the best when he's happy, and if trying to befriend Jin makes him happy, then so be it. Yes, that demon will try to take advantage of it eventually, but Kirby won't do anything really bad." The knight returned his gaze to just in front of him, his voice darkening slightly. "Besides, no one deserves to starve, not even if they're an enemy."

Sword nodded in understanding while keeping in step with Blade. "All right, now I get it." Something struck him as amusing as he thought of that whole conversation again and he snickered. "You think he'll eat the apple?"

Blade raised his voice for a second, though he lowered it again when Kirby turned to look back at him. "He'd better! I wasn't kidding when I threatened him. He's going to have to learn to accept our help sooner or later. We might be his enemies, but we're also the only ones he can turn to." Sword didn't seem to have anything to say to that, so the trio kept going up the stairs, leaving the dungeon behind.

Back in the cell, Jin stared at the apple, which was still sitting in the same spot it landed. _I don't want it, it's from Kirby._ He rolled over and faced the wall, trying to ignore Kirby's little gift even with his hunger still gnawing at him. After a few minutes, his willpower gave out and he faced forward again, picking up the apple and taking a bite. Another reason why Jin hadn't wanted it was that he'd tried apples before and thought the paper he printed his reports on would've tasted better, but this one was juicy and flavorful. _This is really good; I can almost see why Kirby eats so many of these._ He frowned a little at the thought of the puffball, but he didn't stop eating. _No, I'm _not _doing this for Kirby. I'm just too hungry, that's all. That and those knights would probably give me a thrashing if it looked like I was being 'mean' to their little student. I feel terrible enough as it is, I don't need to get hurt on top of it. _It didn't take him long to finish off the apple, and much to his surprise, he actually felt full. He wondered if it was due to the apple being from Whispy, or if it was something he should be worried about. After a moment he gave up on it, deciding instead to get up and wander over to his stack of books. As he looked through the pile, the demon felt a sudden chill sweep over him, but thought nothing of it as it passed just as quickly.

* * *

Roughly three days had passed since Sword and Blade's visit, and the state of things in the dungeon took a turn for the worse. Waddle Doo had probably been down there the most, so he was the one who noticed something strange going on. Jin seemed more restless than ever. He couldn't focus on any of his books and just paced back and forth, occasionally stopping for a moment to wrap his arms around himself and shiver. Jin's pacing was starting to slow, however, and Waddle Doo even thought he heard the demon whining faintly to himself in misery.

Not wanting to be blamed if something was wrong, Waddle Doo stepped closer to the cell, his huge purple eye displaying concern. "Are you all right?"

Jin startled slightly and looked over at him. He was surprised that someone was actually talking to him, but his voice was too weak to really carry much emotion. "Yes, I'm fine. Just fine . . ." After he said that, a low moan escaped him and he just collapsed onto the stone floor.

Waddle Doo ran all the way up to the cell, surprise in his voice from seeing his prisoner wilt like that. "Hey, snap out of it!" The captain of the guard drew his sword and raked it across the bars, hoping to get a response that way. Jin didn't move, not even to cover his ears at the loud noise. "Come on, wake up already! I'm gonna be in big trouble if you die down here, so get up!" Nothing Waddle Doo tried from where he stood managed to rouse Jin at all, He sheathed his sword and got out the big key ring he carried, picking one out and using it to open the door. "You'd better not be trying to get me with the oldest trick in the book, I'll skewer you if you are . . ." The soldier approached Jin cautiously, but the former salesman still didn't move, so he thought it was safe to get closer. Waddle Doo shook the demon's shoulder gently, and there still wasn't any response. Acting on a hunch, he reached over and placed the back of his hand against Jin's forehead. Sure enough, he was feverish. Waddle Doo couldn't tell how bad it was, but if passing out was any indication, Jin probably needed help right away.

Several Waddle Dees had noticed the commotion and were coming over to take a look. Pushing his slight panic aside for the moment, Waddle Doo took command. "You two, stay here and watch him; if he moves, come get me! You other guys, go scare up a stretcher from somewhere! If I know Parm and Memu well enough, they'll probably have us move him upstairs. I have to go tell everyone about this, so I'll be back!" Without another word, Waddle Doo scrambled down the corridor and headed upstairs.

It was around dinnertime, and when Waddle Doo burst into Parm and Memu's living area, the whole family was gathered at the table getting ready to eat. He felt a little bad that he was interrupting their meal, but this couldn't wait.

Fumu noticed Waddle Doo's arrival first, and she looked a little confused. "Waddle Doo? What are you doing here?" At her words, everyone else at the table glanced over at the door and saw him standing there.

Memu looked vaguely annoyed at having dinner interrupted, but that expression gave way to concern. "Yes, Captain, what are you doing here? Is there something wrong?"

Waddle Doo managed something of a nervous salute and said, "Yes, ma'am, there's something wrong! Our prisoner just fainted a minute ago! I think he's really sick; he had a fever when I checked him earlier. We should probably do something, shouldn't we?"

They all gasped in shock, but Bun was the first to recover. His voice was skeptical. "Hey, wait a minute. Why'd you come to us, anyway? Any other time you'd go straight to Dedede with something like this!"

Waddle Doo glared at the boy, but then looked away. "I may be loyal to His Majesty, but I know how heartless he can be . . . he won't do anything about this. And as for why I want to do something; well, I've never lost a prisoner before. Yes, we've never really had any prisoners, but I don't want the first one we've ever gotten to die!"

Parm spoke up, his tone as serious as it could get. "Do you really think Jin's that sick, Captain?"

Waddle Doo nodded. "Well, I'm no doctor, but I know passing out isn't good. He's more similar to your kind though, so maybe you'll be able to make a better guess than me. Can we get going now?"

With that, the five of them left the room. The trip downstairs went quickly, and Fumu and her family found themselves greeted by nearly the same sight that Waddle Doo had seen earlier. There were a few more Waddle Dees milling about, though. One of them must've thought Jin looked cold and wrapped a blanket around him. Other than that, not much had changed from a few minutes prior, and Jin was still lying in the same position on the floor.

Parm watched Memu step towards the cell and frowned. "Be careful, dear, you don't know if he's really unconscious or not!"

Memu glanced over her shoulder at her husband with a bit of a glare. "Oh, come on; in this state he's not going to be able to move, let alone try to hurt me. Not that he could if he was awake." She faced forward again and kept walking, only stopping when she reached Jin's side. He was shivering a lot, and moaning faintly every so often. Nodding to herself, Memu got out the digital thermometer she'd brought with her. It was the kind that measured temperature from the ear, she figured it would be easier to use on an unconscious patient. She took Jin's temperature with the device and waited a second for the reading to appear. There was a beep, then the display hovered around 103, before finally settling on 102. "This isn't good. His fever could be worse, but it's bad enough as it is." Memu glanced around at the cell and sighed. "Well, this is no place to take care of a sick person . . . I think it'd be best to take him upstairs to our place."

Fumu reacted in shock. "What? You can't be serious, Mom! Are you sure we can't just take care of him down here? At least this way he can't escape or do something to Kirby!"

Memu shook her head. "Well, we could try, but look around. There's no water, it's filthy down here, and there's no fresh air. We'd have to bring everything we needed down here with us, and I don't think his chances of getting better in a place like this are very good. I don't like it either, but we really don't have much choice. Besides, we'll make sure he can't do anything to Kirby. Is that all right, Fumu?"

Fumu just shrugged in resignation. "Yes, Mom. He's not sleeping in my room, though. It was okay for Knuckle Joe, but this is different . . ."

Memu managed a small smile at that, remembering the time they took care of Knuckle Joe. "Well, of course this is different. Jin will do fine on the couch for a while; I wasn't going to suggest giving up one of our rooms." She looked towards Waddle Doo. "Well, Captain, you've been listening . . . have your men bring him upstairs. Try not to be seen by His Majesty or Escargon, though; if they see this, they aren't going to like it."

"Yes, ma'am!" Waddle Doo directed the Dees to place Jin on the stretcher they had ready. It took four Waddle Dees to lift the stretcher, then everyone made their way upstairs as fast as they could while looking out for the king or his assistant.

* * *

Roughly ten minutes had passed since they'd brought Jin upstairs. The demon was currently lying on the couch with a sheet wrapped around him, either still unconscious or just sleeping. Memu had dressed him in one of Parm's old nightshirts. It didn't really fit Jin that well, but it was of a lighter material than the suit he wore and at least it was clean. That alone seemed to have made him a little more comfortable, though it might not have really done anything to get his temperature down.

At the moment, Memu was getting a cold compress ready to use. After wringing all the water out of the towel, she brought it over with her, but sort of frowned as she looked at her patient. Jin was still wearing his sunglasses, which would probably at least get damp if Memu put the compress in place. "I'll get those all wet if I do this now." After a moment, she reached to take them off. "I don't think he'll mind if I take these off of him for now; it's an emergency after all."

Bun stepped a little closer, curiosity and apprehension in his voice. "Whoa, does he even have eyes under those shades?"

Fumu paused for a moment in her hunt for any medicine they could use and glared at her little brother. "Bun, don't be stupid! Of course he has eyes, how else would he see?" Curiosity started to get the better of her, and she came over to take a closer look too. "I wonder what they look like, though?"

Memu just sort of shrugged. "Well, I guess we're about to find out." She removed Jin's sunglasses finally, revealing a relatively normal looking set of closed eyes beneath them. Any other detail would have to wait until he woke up. Now that the glasses were out of the way, Memu put the cold compress that she was still holding in it's proper place on Jin's forehead.

Bun only complained though. "That's kinda disappointing . . . we can't even tell what color his eyes are with him asleep like this."

Fumu shook her head at her brother in mild exasperation. "If we've waited this long, we can wait a little longer." She remembered the small bottle she was holding and turned to face her mother. "Oh, I found some medicine to use! It should help get his fever under control, but he'll have to wake up before we can give him anything. You think it's okay to wait that long, though?"

Memu considered what options they had for a moment before answering. "We'd probably have to get Yabui or Escargon to give Jin a shot of some kind if we wanted to give him any medicine right now. Frankly, I don't like Yabui, and Escargon would go straight to His Majesty after he was done, even if we did threaten him. No, it's best to wait until Jin wakes up again. It shouldn't take long, and his fever's not too severe anyway."

It didn't take more than half an hour for Jin to come around. Fumu and her family were finishing up their nearly forgotten dinner, when they heard a soft thud come from the direction of their couch. On heading over to check on him, they found Jin sitting on the floor in a daze. He'd tried to get off the couch for some reason, but tripped over either the sheet or the long nightshirt he was wearing. His sunglasses were back on; since they were just on the coffee table it would've been easy for him to find them. Jin slowly realized he was being stared at, then he backed up against the couch with a yelp. "W-where am I? What's going on? Y-you aren't going to hurt me, are you?" Confusion and a good bit of fear were in his voice, and he frantically looked around the room, trying to get his bearings and failing miserably.

Parm whispered in his wife's ear. "Dear, I think he might be a little delirious. I can't tell if he recognizes any of us right now."

Memu whispered back. "Yes, I know. We'll just have to try our best to keep him calm until he comes out of it." She looked down at Jin, who was growing more anxious by the second, and said, "Well, you're in our living room. You're sick; that's why we brought you up here, so we could take better care of you. Don't worry, it's safe here, and we won't hurt you."

That only made Jin more confused. "You're trying to take care of me?" After a moment, he seemed to come to a realization and calmed down a little, though he still sounded unsure of himself. "Oh, I understand now; I'm dreaming. That's the only logical explanation . . . no one on this planet would want to help me. I'm sure I'll wake up back in that dreadful cell any minute now." He looked towards the floor, and started tracing circles in the carpet with one finger. "I wouldn't mind it as much if I wasn't hungry all the time, or if someone would bother talking to me. Just a little attention would be nice." The former salesman started shivering again, reminding everyone of how sick he was. Jin grabbed one corner of the sheet that was pooled around him and hugged it close to himself, trying to keep warm. "D-dreams aren't supposed to be this cold, are they?"

Memu looked a little guilty at Jin's words, but was motivated to action when he started shaking. "I'll get you some tea. Would you like that?" She headed over to the door leading to their kitchen, but stopped short of going in. "Fumu, where did you put that medicine? Get some of it ready, please. He can take it with the tea." She disappeared through the door as Fumu went to retrieve the bottle of medicine from where she'd put it aside.

Parm stepped closer, and tried to help Jin back onto the couch. "Here, it should be a little warmer if you're not sitting on the floor." Jin stiffened at the touch, but after a moment he relaxed again and allowed Parm to help him.

Bun was more or less standing around and watching everything, but he spoke up as his father finished helping their guest. He faced Jin with a mischievous smile, though his voice held a small amount of disbelief. "You really think you're dreaming?"

It took a few seconds for Jin to try and answer, since his head hurt too much to focus properly. He was still uncertain about everything but managed a reply anyway. "I'm not really sure. It's about the only thing that explains how strange I feel right now. Nothing feels real here, it's as if it's too nice to be real. And while I can't quite remember all of you right now, I'm fairly sure your real selves would never be this kind to me." His voice darkened for what he had to say next. "But, if I really am dreaming, I don't want to wake up again. To be in a place like this, and then wake up again in that hole . . . that's just too cruel."

Memu and Fumu returned just in time to hear Jin's last few words. Memu sort of winced but didn't drop the tray with a teapot and cup she was carrying. Fumu looked shocked, but kept her outburst to herself as any shouting would likely scare Jin in his current condition. Still, if things had gotten that bad for him and they didn't even notice, it didn't say much for them as compassionate jailers.

Memu put the tray she held down on the coffee table. The teapot contained an herbal blend that had some medicinal value, and to counteract any bitterness she'd thrown a lot of sugar in it. Memu poured some into the cup and offered it to Jin, saying, "You probably won't see the dungeon again if we can help it; that place isn't fit for anyone to stay in very long. Here's your tea. Be careful though, it's still pretty hot."

Jin gladly took the offered cup, holding it in both hands to try and warm them. After a moment, he blew on the tea a little and took a sip. It didn't taste like anything he'd ever had before, and all that sugar was a little overpowering, but it wasn't bad. He drained the cup and the warmth finally hit him, chasing his shivering away for the moment. The demon leaned back on the couch with a contented sigh. "That's much better. May I have a little more, please?"

Memu refilled the teacup when Jin held it out. "Of course. We have some medicine to give you anyway, so you'll need something to wash it down with. Fumu?"

Fumu startled a little and remembered the bottle she held. "Oh, right!" Opening it, she shook two orange tablets into her hand, then gave them to Jin. "Here, these should bring your fever down a little more. They're safe; I see Papa taking them all the time to get rid of his headaches."

Jin laughed at that last comment. "Yes, I'm sure he gets those a lot, if he has to deal with His Majesty on a daily basis! I know I did." He downed the two pills with another sip of tea, then tried and failed to stifle a yawn. "If I'm already dreaming, then why am I so sleepy?"

Fumu was the only one who replied, everyone else was unsure of what to say to him. "Maybe you're just going into a deeper sleep?" It was a complete and utter lie, and even if it was to Jin, she hated to do it. _But if I break his illusion, he'll panic, and he can't afford to do that right now . . . I'll just think of this as a little payback for all the times he played tricks on us._

Jin seemed to accept her words, though it was more like he was too sleepy to really question her. "That works, I suppose." Another yawn, and this time he stretched out a little before remembering to put his teacup on the coffee table. He looked towards Memu and bowed as best he could from a sitting position. "Thank you very much for the tea, and for taking a little time to talk to me . . . even if it was a dream, it was nice being taken care of for once." The demon managed another half-yawn before lying down on the couch, curling up under the sheet and finally drifting off.

Memu watched Jin sleep for a minute, then turned to address her family. "Bun, stay here and watch him." She looked at Parm and Fumu. "The three of us need to have a talk outside." With that, she headed for the balcony, her husband and daughter following. Once they were all out there, Memu closed the doors leading back into the living room.

Parm spoke first, a faint note of confusion in his voice. "I know what you're thinking, dear; that whole conversation just seemed off somehow. Jin was so open with us, and he's never done that before. I know he's sick, but would that cause such a drastic change?"

Realization dawned on Fumu, and she smiled, knowing exactly what the problem was. "It's not really change, it's just part of him coming out of hiding. I remember reading somewhere that if someone's really sick or badly injured, all the defenses they've built up won't work properly until they get better. Things that are normally hidden tend to come out. That's why Jin was actually talking to us, instead of hiding his feelings and pushing us away."

Memu nodded in understanding, but then her expression changed to one of concern. "Speaking of hiding his feelings, did either of you notice how badly Jin was doing down there?" Fumu and Parm both shook their heads no, and Memu sighed. "That's what I thought. I didn't notice until now either. We can't put him back there, not if he's that good at covering things up. The next time he collapses, he might not be lucky enough to have Waddle Doo nearby."

Fumu's usual glare of outrage appeared on her face. "But if we can't put him back in the dungeon, what are we supposed to do with him? He could still be dangerous, you know."

Parm held up one hand, silencing his daughter before she could take off on a rant. "No, he's not dangerous by himself. He couldn't even put up a struggle when the Waddle Dees caught him, remember? As for what we're supposed to do with Jin . . . well, is there any truth to your theory, Fumu? That what we just saw was a part of himself he keeps hidden? If that's the case, maybe if we can get him to trust us, he'll let that side out a little more often."

Fumu looked completely certain about her theory. "I'm right, I know I am. But how can we get Jin to trust us? The only way I can think of is-- wait, there's no way that'll work!"

Parm just smiled slightly. "We have to at least try. In my experience, sometimes all a person really needs is a second chance. I've been thinking about this ever since we questioned Jin a month ago. He served Nightmare because it was all he ever knew, that was the only way he knew how to live . . . but what if we try to show him a different way? This won't be easy, but since when has the easy way ever really been worth it?"

At those words, they heard someone clapping nearby. On looking around, they noticed Meta Knight standing on the roof. He'd been listening in on the whole conversation, but chose to wait before adding his own opinion. "Such a noble idea . . . but do you think you have the will to carry it out? Jin will fight you every step of the way; he's simply lost too much to the people of this star to feel anything but hate towards you all. And I'd imagine there are other issues, as well. Even knowing this, do you still want to try?"

Parm spoke maybe a little more boldly than usual, his heart set on this course of action more than any other. It seems her mother wasn't the only one Fumu inherited her strong will from. "Yes, of course! At this point I don't think there are any other options, not if we want our prisoner to live. No, it's well past time we were true to ourselves in dealing with Jin . . . and if he already hates us, things certainly can't get any worse!"

Meta Knight seemed to be satisfied with that response. "Well, if that's what you want, I won't get in the way. Do as you wish with him . . . this experiment should be amusing to watch, at least." Having said that, he decided to make his exit. The knight jumped from the roof down to the edge of the balcony, and then down into the courtyard.

Parm sighed in relief as Meta Knight disappeared. "There's one problem we don't have to worry about. I had a feeling Sir Meta Knight wouldn't care, but you can never be sure with him at times. Now, how are we going to tell His Majesty and Escargon?"

Memu didn't even want to consider that. "We aren't going to tell them. They'll be just as angry whether we tell them or if they find out on their own, so why bother? At least this way it'll take them a while to start causing trouble."

Fumu nodded, looking slightly annoyed at the thought of the king and his trouble-making ways. "Yeah, once Dedede finds out, he'll never leave Jin alone. At least it won't be like with Kirby; Jin's smart enough to find some way to defend himself or retaliate. He won't really be up to it until he gets better, though . . . hopefully Dedede will be his usual dim self and not realize there's anything going on for a few days."

Memu laughed at that, saying, "A few days? His Majesty will be lucky if he notices anything for a week or two! Let's just hope nothing else happens in the meantime, hmm?" With that, she led the way back inside. She and her family got ready for bed, trying to keep quiet so they wouldn't accidentally wake Jin.

* * *

The next day came quickly enough, and it was midmorning when Jin woke up again. He sat up on the couch and looked around, still not recognizing the room at all. He was glad it wasn't the dungeon, but waking up in an unfamiliar place was starting to make him nervous. The demon thought about sneaking out before anyone noticed, but he barely felt strong enough to stand up. Getting over to the door was out of the question. Besides that, Bun noticed Jin was awake before he could even try to slink away.

Bun seemed a little surprised, but still managed to call for his mother. "Hey, Mom, our guest is awake!"

Jin sounded confused at that. "Guest? Don't you mean 'prisoner'?" He crossed his arms in front of himself in irritation. "If you're trying to trick me, it's not going to work." Something else was bothering him too, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Wow, didn't take long for you to get back to normal, did it?" Bun was surprised about that too, but pushed it aside as he tried to explain things a little more. "I'm not trying to trick you, though; my dad always says that if someone stays with us for a while, then they're our guest. You've been here since yesterday, don't you remember?"

"Yesterday?" Jin remembered not feeling very well, and talking to Waddle Doo about something, but anything else from that day was a blur. He would've tried harder to recall the memories, if that wasn't when he noticed what he was wearing. He stared down at the pink sleeves of the nightshirt he wore and cried out in panic. "What am I doing in this thing?! I want my suit . . . give it back!" Jin reached towards Bun, probably to try and shake some answers out of him, but the boy dodged and swatted his hand away. The panicking demon recoiled at the touch, and the implications of his new clothes hit with full force. His expression turned horrified, and his voice shook a little when he spoke. "S-someone had to--" That thought was the final straw, and Jin let loose a scream that might've been heard in distant parts of the castle. He hid himself under the sheet, feeling too violated to face anyone.

Bun winced at Jin's howl, then tried in vain to calm him down. "Oh geez, what's your problem? Come on, calm down . . . it can't be that bad, can it?" The boy really didn't understand what the problem was. Then again, considering Bun rarely if ever wore a shirt, it was doubtful he could understand.

Memu was already heading for the living room at Bun's earlier shout, but when she heard Jin scream she picked up the pace. Parm and Fumu came running too, but the scene as it was just confused them. Memu looked towards her son and asked, "Bun, what happened?"

Bun just scratched his head. He still didn't really get it, but he tried to explain. "He saw what he was wearing, then he freaked. I don't get it, Mom; you've seen me and Fumu enough times--"

Memu sighed at Bun's complete lack of modesty, and tried to silence him. "Bun, maybe it'd be best if you went to play with Kirby right now. Go on, get going." Bun dashed off, not having to be told twice. Fumu already made herself scarce once she realized what the problem was, but Parm stuck around, thinking his wife might need him if things got out of hand. Memu just shook her head. "Dear, you might as well go finish that paperwork you had to do, this won't be a problem."

Parm didn't look like he wanted to leave. "Are you sure?" After a moment of being glared at, he headed for one of the doors leading to the other parts of their residence. "All right, I'll just be over here then. Yell if you need me." He retreated through the door.

Now that everyone else was gone, Memu stepped closer to the couch and it's occupant. Her voice took on a soothing tone. "I had a feeling you'd react this way, considering we've only ever seen you wearing a suit or that formal kimono at New Years. You'd only stay covered up that much if you didn't want anyone to see what you look like. Don't worry, though. I'm the only one who saw anything, and frankly I'm trying to forget the whole thing ever happened."

Jin emerged from under the sheet, though he kept it wrapped around him to hide the nightshirt. He felt a little better knowing that Memu was the only one to see anything, but did she really have to say it like that? His voice sounded indignant when he finally said something. "Well, it's certainly not my fault that I was only designed to run Holy Nightmare. I was never meant to fight, so I don't have the physique for it." Memories from his childhood of how the other demon beasts used to make fun of him for being so skinny and weak came to mind, and he fell silent. Granted, after he was older, anyone stupid enough to do that got sent via delivery system into the heart of a star, but the memories were still depressing.

Memu sighed at his reaction, not intending Jin to take it that way. _It's not a surprise with him back to normal, though . . . there's so much hate there that he assumes the worst of everyone._ She sat down beside him, and to her surprise he didn't immediately scoot over to the far corner of the couch. "I didn't mean it like that. It's just that if I have to see someone with no clothes, I'd rather it be my husband. But really, let's not dwell on that, there's just some things that don't need to be talked about. As for things that do need discussing . . . well, how are you feeling? You're doing better than yesterday, but you probably still have that fever."

The subject change was abrupt, but Jin just sort of went with it. "I do feel kind of warm right now. Mostly I just feel exhausted, though. Why is that? I'm fairly sure I've gotten plenty of sleep lately."

"Well, that's normal if you have Dream Land Fever like Fumu thinks you do. It starts with a high fever for about a day or so, then for the next few days afterwards it causes mild fatigue. That's what she said, at least." Memu paused for a second, trying to remember what else Fumu said. "Oh, and we've already had it, so you don't have to worry about the rest of us getting sick too."

Jin seemed relieved at that, though he really didn't care if anyone else would get sick or not. "At least now I know what's wrong. But, what happens after I get better? Will you put me back in the dungeon again?" Any other questions about what might happen to him had to wait, as his stomach started growling. "Oh dear, how embarrassing . . ."

Memu giggled at this and stood up. "Well then, I think I'd better get you something to eat before you decide those couch cushions look appetizing. It's still early, so how about some breakfast?"

Jin glared at her. "I think you have me confused with a certain black hole named Kirby. Breakfast does sound good, though."

When Fumu and Parm decided it was safe to wander back into the living room a few minutes later, they were happy to discover nothing major had happened. Jin and Memu were both sitting on the couch talking, though anything Jin had to say came between bites of the toast he was eating.

Jin finished off the last of the toast, washing it down with what was left of the glass of orange juice he held. Now that he'd gotten something to eat, he felt up to doing a little more than just sitting on the couch. "Is there someplace around here where I can get a shower?"

Memu thought about it for a second. "You can use ours, but you might want to wait a while. I sent Waddle Doo down to the tailor to have a few more suits made for you. If you wait until he gets back, you'll have clean clothes to wear. I'm sure you don't want to try on anything else of Parm's, right?"

Jin shook his head, as much a reply to Memu as it was an effort to get the mental image of himself wearing Parm's usual outfit out of his mind. "No, I can wait. You know, you're being unusually nice to me. It's strange that you'd treat a prisoner this way. I almost think the next thing you're going to tell me is that you're letting me out of the dungeon permanently!" He'd said that jokingly, but when Memu didn't immediately deny it, a faint chill ran down his spine. "Y-you are? But that doesn't make any sense! Why would you--" Everything seemed to come together in an instant, and Jin gasped in shock. "Wait, I know why . . . you wouldn't be so kind, or even consider letting me out unless you wanted to make me turn over a new leaf." Shock gave way to fear, though he managed to keep himself from shaking or trying to hide under the sheet again. "No, I don't want to! I am Nightmare's most faithful servant, I won't change that for you or anyone!"

Parm came running over at Jin's sudden panic, with Fumu following close behind. "I was hoping you'd take a little longer to figure things out, but I guess that just wasn't going to happen. Jin, we're not going to force you to do anything, we're just not like that here. What we're offering is a choice. Yes, a second chance is one of the options; you can try to change and live with us in peace. But if you don't think you're capable of it, after you're feeling better, you can go back to the dungeon and we won't bother you about it again. You don't have to decide right now; if you want, it could wait for a few more days."

Jin took a deep breath to calm himself, but he still couldn't quite keep the surprise out of his voice. "This is my decision? You'll honor that no matter which way I choose? Well then, that's a little different. I think I'll decide now, though. Waiting too long would only be more stressful." With the rest of them looking on, he sat there and weighed the two options in his mind. Freedom, although under constant watch to make sure he didn't stray off the 'right' path, or back to the dungeon, where he wouldn't have to deal with any of them? As tempting as avoiding contact with them was, the thought of being alone again frightened him. Then there was the constant boredom. Reading helped, but even that got boring after a while. _No, I'll lose my mind if I stay down there any longer, I just know it. Acting the way they want me to won't be difficult . . . after all, I'm nothing if not one of this galaxy's best actors! I really don't have anything to lose, anyway._ Finally coming to a decision, he nodded. "I accept your offer of a second chance. Thank you very much for even considering me worthy of this."

Parm looked pleased. "Then it's settled. You can stay here with us until you're feeling a little better, and I'll have the Dees get one of the guest rooms ready for you." At that, he looked towards Memu. "Dear, maybe you should help them pick out some fresh linens from the castle stores. You know the guest rooms aren't used much at all, so the Waddle Dees tend to ignore them."

Memu got off the couch and started heading for the door. "Yes, that is a good idea. The Dees can be useful for cleaning and other things, but I swear, some of them must be color blind when it comes to decorating the castle. Well, let's figure out which room we're giving him first, then I can decide on what sheets and curtains would be best." She and Parm left the room, still discussing their plans.

Fumu was the only one left in the room with Jin, and she looked suspicious. Maybe a little annoyed too, but mostly suspicious. "My parents might be ready to forgive you, but I'm not! I won't forget all those things you, Nightmare, and Dedede tried to do to Kirby and to Dream Land itself. Everyone else probably will, but I won't! So don't think you can do as you please around here, because I'll be watching."

Jin frowned slightly. He knew the girl would probably be trouble, though he didn't worry about her as much as he did Meta Knight. It did irritate him that Fumu seemed to think he'd try something right away, though. "A girl your age shouldn't worry so much, I'm sure it's bad for your health." Fumu kept glaring, and Jin just sighed. "Think about it a little instead of jumping to conclusions. If you did, you'd see why I won't be causing trouble. You're smart, so you should figure it out eventually."

Fumu still glared at him. "You should still watch your step." Not having anything else to say, she walked away and headed for her room.

Jin watched her leave. Yes, Fumu would definitely be a problem, though just how much of one was hard to say. He'd deal with that when the time came, at the moment he still felt too out of sorts to do any serious planning ahead.

* * *

A few hours later in the throne room, Dedede sighed in boredom. Now that he couldn't get any more demon beasts, life seemed pretty dull. Oh, sure, he could always go terrorize the villagers or Kirby on his own, but that just didn't seem as fun. "Escargon, I'm bored! Find me something to do."

Escargon was nearly as bored as the king was, but he didn't let it bug him as much. "You want to help with my experiments? No, wait, what am I thinking? That's just asking for you to blow up my lab somehow. Want to go golfing? Want to go cause trouble in the village?" Nothing seemed to get much response out of Dedede other than a scowl, so Escargon took a second to think. "Oh, I know, we can go drop in on Parm and Memu, we haven't done that in a while! Their brats have been awfully quiet for the past two days; I bet you they're up to something!"

Dedede grinned evilly. "Yeah, they're always up to something. We can go put a stop to it, and if Kirby's there I can try to smash him too! Come on, Escargon, let's go; this is the best idea you've had all month!"

Escargon found himself being grabbed by the arm and dragged along as Dedede went. "You don't have to pull so hard, Your Majesty!"

It didn't take more than two minutes for Dedede and Escargon to reach Parm and Memu's chambers, and Dedede all but kicked the door in. "Don't mind us, we're just making a social call! There isn't any plotting against me going on, is there?" The king stopped abruptly as he looked around the room, not quite believing what he saw.

Jin was sitting there on the couch, wearing a fresh suit and generally looking better than he had in quite a while. He looked bored, but as he was watching Channel DDD along with Bun and Kirby, that wasn't much of a surprise. "So this is the only thing you have to watch around here? It's worse than I thought it would be. No wonder His Majesty always pirated the Nightmare Network from us." The noise at the door startled him, and when he looked to see who it was, his voice took on a slightly nervous tone. "Y-your Majesty?"

Dedede gaped in surprise, though after a moment he managed to say something. "Hey, what's he doing out of his cell? I don't remember giving any orders to let him out!"

Escargon made his way into the room and grinned. "See, I told you they were up to something! Come to think of it, this must be why Waddle Doo was avoiding us earlier. He knew about this and didn't want to tell us!"

Dedede nodded in understanding, then he sort of growled. "Oh, a conspiracy, huh?" He brought out his hammer and glared at Parm and Memu. "Someone had better make with an explanation, otherwise my hammer's gonna be getting a workout!'"

Despite his king's rage, Parm managed to come forward, strategically placing himself between Dedede and the rest of the room. "Well, Your Majesty, it should be fairly obvious. Treating Jin as harshly as we were just wasn't working, so we've decided on a different approach. We're going to try to give him a second chance. He'll live here with us in one of the guest rooms, so we can keep an eye on him. Before you ask, Sir Meta Knight seemed to be all right with it, so you don't need to try and bring him into this."

Dedede started snickering, which eventually built up into one of his usual cackles. "A second chance? That's hilarious! This swindler will never turn over a new leaf or whatever, he just doesn't have it in him." Parm didn't seem to be persuaded by his words, so the king looked past him and started talking to Jin. "So, when exactly do you plan on betraying them? At your first opportunity or are you going to wait until they trust you? Once a scoundrel, always a scoundrel, after all. I should know, I am one!"

Jin aimed a glare at the king. "Well, I may be a fellow scoundrel, but I'm nothing like you, Your Majesty. At least I'm intelligent enough to know when there's no point in trying anything."

Dedede growled in rage. "Are you calling me stupid? Well guess what, if I'm going to be forced to let you stay in my castle, I won't be putting up with your mouth!" He pushed Parm out of the way and charged forward, hammer ready to smash something.

Needless to say, Jin took off running. He tried to keep the furniture between him and Dedede, though the penguin seemed to just plow right past most of the things in his way. An unlucky table ended up smashed, and the knickknacks that were on it shattered on the floor. Even with the king not really caring what he broke, he still couldn't quite catch his prey. Unfortunately, Jin wouldn't have the energy to run for long on a good day, and still being sick really didn't help. He tired almost to the point of collapse after a few minutes of dodging Dedede, his thoughts racing for some way out. _What can I do? Can't keep going, but he'll hurt me if I don't!_ His stamina ran out before he could think of anything, though. His feet gave out beneath him, leaving him sprawled on the floor, gasping for breath.

Everyone started to move, to stop Dedede from doing anything stupid, but Kirby was the fastest. The whole situation reminded him too much of PhanPhan getting chased around and the little guy just wouldn't allow it. "Poyo!!" He hopped off the couch with an angry look in his purple eyes, and ran over between Dedede and his intended victim. The puffball didn't wait for Dedede to protest, he just started using his inhale.

"Knock it off, you crazy pink ball!" Dedede skidded to a stop when faced with Kirby inhaling and tried to run the other way. He lost his grip on his hammer, and it went flying down the vortex, straight into Kirby's mouth.

With a flash of light, the puffball actually turned into Hammer Kirby this time. Hammer in hand, Kirby dashed forward and smacked Dedede with it. The king went flying towards the door and collided with Escargon, with the remaining momentum sending them out into the hallway, and maybe even through the wall. Nobody bothered to check, least of all Kirby. As soon as he escorted the king out, Kirby dropped his transformation and went over to check on Jin. "Poyo poyo?"

Jin hadn't moved from where he'd fallen, though he'd managed to catch his breath a little. "I'm fine . . . just leave me alone." He soon found himself on the receiving end of several angry stares. "What? I appreciate that Kirby showed His Majesty the door, but I don't want anyone's pity! Especially not a Star Warrior's."

Bun came over and tried to lead Kirby away. "Come on, Kirby, that's about all of a thank you you're gonna get from him right now. Let's go play some more . . . if we can find Dedede out there, I bet you'll scare him really good after what you just did!"

Kirby seemed a little reluctant to go, but after a second he let Bun lead him towards the door. Bun let go of the pink puff once he got to the door and went running out in search of Dedede. Kirby looked back with a sad little "Poyo?" and then followed his friend.

Jin looked up at Parm and Memu, who were still glaring down at him in disapproval. His next words came out in a low growl. "Let's get one thing straight. I'll try to behave, but don't expect me to fall in love with that pink ball like all of you have. I can't, not after everything he's done." Longing for things to be the way they used to threatened to close in, and he took a second to compose himself before saying anything else. "I did mean what I said to His Majesty, though. Interpret that how you will."

Memu considered his words for a moment, but she still looked a little mad. "Well, you don't have to like Kirby, but you could try being a little nicer to him. And you were getting along all right with him earlier, why can't you just do that?"

Jin managed to sit up, though he didn't think he could stand yet. "Ignoring someone and getting along with them are two different things." Memu got a little angrier at that response, but Jin didn't flinch or even start looking apologetic. "I knew you wouldn't like that very much, but it's the only thing I can tell you."

Memu finally glanced at Parm and said, "I'm beginning to see why Sir Meta Knight tried to warn us yesterday . . ." She walked off to retrieve a broom and dustpan, to start cleaning up the disaster area Dedede turned the living room into. She wasn't exactly storming around, but maybe she could've been a little less forceful with her sweeping.

Parm watched Memu wander around the room, cleaning as she went, and something of a long-suffering expression made it's way onto his face. There'd be no talking to her for at least a couple of hours, so he decided to go see how the Waddle Dees were doing on what few repairs they still had to make to the castle. Before he left, he at least had the presence of mind to warn Jin. Parm stepped closer to the demon still sitting on the floor and whispered, "You might want to leave her alone for a while; I can't say what'll happen to you if you don't."

Jin sneaked a glance at Memu, and he still managed not to wince, even as the broken vase she swept up seemed to shatter more when it hit the back of the dustpan. He did look a little nervous, though. He whispered back to Parm. "Oh, I think I have a pretty good idea of what will happen. I'd really rather not get chased around with a broom too, so I'll be keeping my distance." Parm seemed satisfied with that reply and finally left. Jin sat there and watched Memu work for a few minutes, but eventually got to his feet and walked rather unsteadily to the couch. He sat down heavily, still too exhausted from all the running around. The tv was still on, so he started watching again, but he was paying more attention to his thoughts than whatever was on the screen. _His Majesty is a menace, and they probably won't like it if I retaliate, either. I guess I'll try to avoid him for now . . . this castle is big, so it shouldn't be too hard. _Jin tried to focus on the tv but quickly grew bored, only managing to stay awake when one of Curio's historical documentaries came on ten minutes later.

* * *

Sunset had come and gone, and night fell over Dream Land. In the castle, Jin stepped out onto the balcony, the night breeze ruffling his hair a little. He stepped closer to the edge, and looking down, he watched the Waddle Dees patrol around the courtyard for a while. Getting bored of that after a minute, it occurred to him to look up for some reason, and he smiled slightly at what he saw. Pop Star's night sky was spread out before him, the stars shining brightly without the moon overshadowing them. However, as with most things on Pop Star, very few of the constellations looked familiar. The ones that did seemed smaller, and there were even a few that looked like they were reversed. The demon supposed it was only natural, as his usual vantage point was 900 lightyears away. That's when he remembered he hadn't seen the stars at all since he left the fortress. It was starting to make him homesick, but even with that hollow feeling tearing at his heart, he couldn't stop watching the sky.

Fumu emerged from her room carrying a book, and headed towards the balcony to do a little stargazing. She was surprised to find Jin already out there doing the same thing. After all, if he lived in space all his life, wouldn't the stars get boring after a while? She stepped closer and spoke, though her voice was a little skeptical. "You like looking at the stars too?"

Jin glanced back at her, then turned his gaze to the heavens again. He felt a little annoyed that Fumu decided to bother him and thought about not responding, but after a moment he did it anyway. He had pretenses to uphold, though to be honest he actually wanted to talk about it. "Oh, yes. Observing them was something of a hobby of mine. There really wasn't much to do between His Majesty's calls, so it was something that kept me from getting too bored." After a moment, he reached up and took his sunglasses off, then rubbed his eyes. He kept facing forward so Fumu couldn't see much, though. Jin stared up at the stars without the shades for a minute, and as that didn't seem to help, he put them back on. "Is there something wrong with my eyes, or are the stars flickering for some reason?"

Fumu looked a little harder at the stars, but couldn't seem to find anything wrong. They were just your run of the mill stars, twinkling up in the sky. "They look normal to me." That's when she remembered her trip into space, and how the stars looked different there. "Oh wait, I remember now! When I saw the stars from the Halberd, they weren't twinkling like this at all. They were just steady points of light against the black. I didn't really like it, I thought it made them seem too cold. That's the only way you've ever seen the stars, isn't it?"

"Yes, I think you may be right. I've only ever been on a planet once, and I don't remember seeing the stars then. It's a subtle difference, but it's just enough to bother me. I'd imagine the 'twinkling' is from the light going through Pop Star's atmosphere?" Jin paused for a second and sighed, looking away from the sky. "That's another thing that's different from the way it was back home . . . nothing is ever the same here."

Fumu was about to accuse him of being overdramatic again, but something about his tone of voice made her think twice. Most of the time she really couldn't tell if what Jin showed to the world was how he truly felt, but that faint note of depression in his voice sounded real enough to her. _Even if he was raised to be bad, he still has the same emotions we do . . . I'll have to remember that. What should I do to help him, though?_ Trying to cheer him up the way she would anyone else probably wouldn't work, so she decided on a different approach. "Well, think of it as a learning experience." As Fumu said that, she remembered just why she was out there, and flipped open the book she carried to a page she'd marked earlier. There was a drawing of Pop Star in it's orbit, and a list of dates and times below it. Checking the list again, the girl found that night's date towards the bottom and she smiled. "Besides, there's some things in space that are best viewed from a planet . . . I'll bet you've never seen anything like what's about to happen before."

Curiosity replaced any lingering depression in his voice, and Jin turned to face Fumu again. "Something's going to happen?"

Fumu didn't give him any sort of hint. "Oh, you'll see! Just keep watching the sky."

Jin did as she asked, too curious to ignore her. After a minute or two there still wasn't any change in the sky, and he was starting to get bored, though. "I still don't see anything different . . ." As he said that, a streak of light crossed the sky, followed by a few more. Shooting stars blazed across the heavens in droves, and Jin found himself captivated by the sight. "So that's what a meteor shower looks like from a planet's surface? It's beautiful."

Fumu just nodded in satisfaction. "If you weren't down here with us, you wouldn't have seen that at all."

Jin didn't stop looking at the sky, but he slumped a little. "I wonder if I'll still be here nine hundred years from now, when the light from Holy Nightmare's explosion finally reaches this planet? I know it's gone, but I didn't see it happen . . . it's been well over a month and it still doesn't feel real to me." He tore his gaze away from the stars, focusing on a point somewhere down in the courtyard. "I don't know why I'm even telling you this, there's no way you can really understand."

The girl was at a loss for words for a moment, though it didn't take her long to recover. The more paranoid part of Fumu's mind cried a warning, to not be nice to someone so evil, but her heart silenced it. _I don't have to trust someone to be nice to them. I can't just let him keep feeling this way, I'm not that cold._ Fumu's voice was soft when she spoke. "No, I don't understand. But I can see that you're hurting, even if you're hiding most of it. Just know that you aren't alone. If you ever need anyone to talk to, my parents and I will be here. It might be better if you talked to Mabel, but it'll probably be a while before you get to go to the village."

Silence dominated the balcony for a minute as Jin tried to figure out what to say to that, if anything. Fumu's offer of help confused and scared him, so he wanted to keep quiet and not answer. As she looked at him expectantly, though, he knew he couldn't ignore her. After a moment, he shook his head slowly. "No, it's still too soon. Talking about it now would only make things worse."

Fumu looked a little disappointed with that response. It wasn't entirely unexpected, so she didn't bother trying to push the issue. "Well, if you're not ready, that's all right. Just try to keep what I said in mind, okay?" She hesitated for a moment, then looked up at the shooting stars again. "So, still want to watch the rest of the meteor shower?"

Jin thought about it for a second, then turned to face the sky again himself. "Well, I certainly don't see why not. It is the first one I've ever really bothered watching, so I might as well stay out here long enough to see it all."

The two of them stayed out on the balcony for nearly an hour. As the last few shooting stars streaked past the horizon, they finally ventured back inside. It was a little past Fumu's bedtime, and Jin was starting to get tired again anyway, so it pretty much worked out. As Jin followed Fumu back inside, he could faintly sense one of the Star Warriors nearby. As Kirby hadn't been around since dinner, he started looking around for Meta Knight. Sure enough, the old warrior was up in one of the nearby turrets, and was also turning to enter the castle. Jin's thoughts turned slightly nervous. _Now what was he doing up there? Just watching the stars, or was he watching me, too? No, why bother fooling myself, of course he was watching me! Observe all you want, Star Warrior, but if I try anything it'll be so subtle you won't know about it until it's too late!_ Without sparing the departing Meta Knight another glance, Jin finally went inside, closing the balcony doors behind him.

* * *

About three days later, Jin was feeling much better, so Parm and Memu thought it was a good idea to move him to his new room. It was pretty close to their own quarters, though on the side furthest away from Dedede's room. That would likely be best for all involved: they could keep an eye on Jin, and Dedede would avoid causing trouble if he had to walk long distances to do it. Bun and Fumu ended up helping Jin carry a few things to his room. It was mostly clothing, though Jin was carrying a small basket Memu had filled to the brim with personal items. A comb, a bottle of shampoo, and a toothbrush could be seen poking out, though there were a few more things in there she thought he might need.

Bun carried a pile of folded up nightshirts. He would've rather been out playing, but he made the mistake of sticking around too long after lunch and his mother roped him into helping. "Wow, I hope this room has a big closet! I don't know where we're gonna put all this otherwise, sis."

Fumu held a suit still in it's garment bag, and had two folded dress shirts tucked under one arm. She was leading the way down the corridor, but they made slow progress because of all they had to carry. "Bun, it's not that much stuff! And I went in there earlier with Mom, there's plenty of space for this and more to spare." At the thought of her mother and clothing, an amused smile appeared on her face. "Better watch out, Jin, or she'll drag you along too the next time we go clothes shopping."

Jin was carrying another suit, a few more dress shirts, and the previously mentioned basket of toiletries. He looked at Fumu quizzically, not really getting what was so funny. "That wouldn't be so bad. Your mother does seem to have good taste, after all."

"That's not the bad part. The bad part is that it takes forever!" Bun remembered the last time they'd gone shopping and complained about it rather loudly. "We were dragged around from store to store for hours while everyone else was out playing . . . that just sucked!"

Fumu tried her best to ignore her brother's whining as she spoke to Jin. "Well, you probably won't have it as bad as we usually do. You're an adult and not even related to us, so she shouldn't bother you too much. Don't be surprised if she makes a few suggestions, though." They kept walking, and as she looked up ahead, she spotted their destination. "Oh, there's the room! Now we can finally put all this stuff down." Fumu somehow managed to open the door even with all the things she carried and she stepped inside, followed by Bun and Jin.

It was one of the many guest rooms scattered around the castle, and while it wasn't huge, it wasn't all that small either. The bed was in the very back of the room, beside a window looking out into the courtyard. There was a small table with a lamp beside it. The left wall of the room was lined with a closet, and a dresser with a mirror on top of it. The right side of the room had a bookshelf with a comfortable-looking chair beside it, and in the corner by the door there was a table slightly larger than the bedside one with two chairs around it. And like nearly every other room in the castle, there were a few small statues of Dedede sitting around. A small one was on top of the closet, and a larger one sat in the left corner near the door.

Jin stepped to the center of the room and looked around. "So this is where I'll be staying? It's nicer than I expected. It looks a little smaller than my old room, but I think that's only because nothing's built into the walls like it was back on the fortress." Deciding to put away all the things he held, he moved to the dresser and put the basket on top of it, smiling when he saw the abacus Fumu gave him already sitting there. "I was wondering where this went . . . those Waddle Dees can certainly be useful at times." He went over to the closet and opened it, hanging up the suit beside the ones the Waddle Dees already put in there. Fumu handed him the suit she was carrying and Jin hung that up too. The dress shirts ended up in the drawer on the bottom of the closet. On closing the door, Jin spotted the Dedede statue on the closet's top and frowned at it. "Why are these statues of His Majesty in here? All they're doing is taking up space."

Fumu looked from one statue to the other, and then back at Jin. "Oh, those are just for decoration, even though they're really too ugly for that. It's best to just leave them alone. Dedede likes to see himself everywhere, and he gets mad if there's any statues missing."

Jin seemed a little confused at that. "Decoration?" At the children's questioning looks, he tried to explain himself. "Oh, I know what it means, I just think all it does is make things look cluttered."

Fumu thought back to her short visit to Nightmare's fortress, mainly right after Escargon and Dedede grabbed her. She couldn't remember seeing one thing that looked remotely decorative on her way to the main control room. There was a chandelier in the control room itself, but it only reminded her of the rest of the fortress, all cold metal and hard edges. She idly wondered how someone as charismatic as Jin could've come from such a place, but dismissed the thought as too far off the subject. "Judging from where you lived, that doesn't surprise me. I'm sure you'll get used to the idea eventually. Maybe you'll even find something you like down in the village and put it in here somewhere."

Still wearing a faint frown, Jin didn't sound convinced. "I don't know . . . this room doesn't seem like it really needs anything else."

Meanwhile, Bun finally got bored of hanging around. He dashed past Jin and Fumu over to the bed, and put down the stack of nightshirts he'd been holding. The boy turned around and ran out the door, only pausing for a second to call out, "I'm gonna go play with Kirby now, bye sis!"

"You could try being a little more patient, Bun!" Fumu yelled after him, even though she knew he wouldn't hear her. With her little brother gone, though, she remembered she still had something to do. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot! My mom found a few things in the pockets of your old suit, but she never got around to giving them back to you, so she told me to do it. Now where did I put those?" The blonde reached into a pocket and pulled out two thin items. One was a Holy Nightmare ID card: the company's logo was printed across the top, there was some writing underneath that in a language she'd never seen before, and a picture of Jin featured prominently on the left side. The other was a slightly dog-eared photograph of a much younger Jin, and standing behind him was what Fumu would've sworn was a Chilidog if it hadn't been so small. She stared at the picture for a moment before handing it and the ID card to Jin.

"Thank you very much for finding these!" A mix of relief and happiness could be heard in Jin's voice, and he smiled as he looked at the photo. "Especially this picture; it's irreplaceable now."

Fumu was already curious about the photo, and that comment only made her more so. "Um, can I ask you something about that? I know that's you in front, that outfit's too similar to what you're wearing now. But what's that behind you? It looks like a Chilidog but it doesn't seem big enough."

Jin hesitated for a second, not sure if he wanted to say anything. Some of the memories surrounding that picture still hurt, even after such a long time. In the end he just sort of sighed and answered her, thinking he'd be all right if he avoided talking about the bad parts. "That's what a Chilidog looks like when it's still a puppy. What, did you think Nightmare brought all his demon beasts into the world as adults? That was all right if all he wanted was cannon fodder, but if he needed something intelligent, he had to give them time to grow and learn."

Fumu laughed a little at that. "So then this picture is pretty much what I thought it was, just a boy and his dog? It would almost be cute if I didn't know what you both grew up into."

Jin considered her words for a moment before shaking his head. "No, you don't know what Soren was like, not really. Yes, he and the Chilidog we sent here look the same, but that and the weakness to water are the only things they share. Soren was a lot smarter; he wouldn't have allowed those knights and Kirby to corner him so easily. He didn't need to burn things as often to keep his power up either. At the very least, it would have made him harder to track. If we could've sent Soren, I think he might have won."

"Soren? That's a nice name. And from how proud you sound of him, you probably loved him very much." Fumu paused for a second when she realized Jin was talking about his pet in the past tense. Part of her didn't want to ask, and it was that part that tinged her voice with sadness. "But, something happened to him, didn't it?"

Jin grew very quiet, his eyes sliding shut behind his sunglasses. He felt the tears threatening to gather but somehow managed to hold them back. _Why does she always know where it hurts the most?_ He opened his eyes again and fidgeted a little, not seeming to know what to do with his hands before finally clasping them in front of him. "Yes, it did. I really don't know what it was . . . there were so many conflicting reports. The war with the Galaxy Soldier Army was in full swing at the time, so I was too busy to look into them all. Now that I'm stuck here, I doubt I'll ever find out what really happened." Admitting that out loud was more painful than he'd thought it would be, and suddenly all he wanted was to be alone. "Please, could you just--"

Fumu was already on her way out the door, looking apologetic as she backpedaled. "I think I'll go see what Bun and Kirby are up to." She turned to leave, but before she did she stopped in the doorway. "I-I'm sorry I asked . . . I shouldn't have bothered you about it." Fumu ran from the room.

Left alone with his thoughts yet again, Jin stared at the spot Fumu was standing for a moment before taking another look at the photo he held. _Soren. I haven't thought of him in such a long time._ Fond memories of growing up with the Chilidog flitted about alongside the more bitter ones of the time of his disappearance. _Why did he leave, if that's what happened? Surely he would have wanted to celebrate the fall of the Galaxy Soldier Army with me! It just doesn't make any sense._ A faint feeling of doubt began to plague Jin, that maybe he didn't know his pet as well as he thought he did; but he dismissed it as just part of the depression he'd been feeling ever since he arrived on Pop Star. _Why am I thinking so much about the past, anyway? I have to concentrate on the here and now if I expect to keep myself out of that dungeon!_ With that, he decided to get to work on tidying up his room a little more. He idly stuffed the Holy Nightmare ID card into one of his pockets. The photo of himself and Soren almost went with it, but he hesitated. Looking around the room, Jin went over to the dresser and it's mirror. Finding a suitable spot in the mirror's lower left corner, he tucked the picture into the thin space between the glass and its frame. Satisfied with that for the moment, Jin started putting the rest of his things away.


End file.
